May to tackle corporate irresponsibility in pay and governance

PRIME MINISTER Theresa May is to prioritise plans to curb excessive executive pay and tackle aggressive tax avoidance, she announced at the G20 summit.

May has made clear her intention to encroach on traditional Labour ground by announcing “a proper industrial strategy” and targeting multinationals by curbing excessive corporate pay “to restore greater fairness”.

At the conference in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China, May said she would bring forward a consultation this autumn on measures to tackle corporate irresponsibility by cracking down on excessive corporate pay and poor corporate governance.

May has also proposed giving employees and customers representation on company boards – a move that previous PMs have stepped back from.

Under the previous Conservative government former PM David Cameron had begun implementing regulation to tackle executive pay and corporate tax avoidance. Cameron’s government introduced a non-binding shareholder vote on executive pay and had begun to implement much of the OECD guidance on closing tax loopholes that allow multinationals pay little or no tax in certain jurisdictions.