Hearing Examines Executive Pay and Compensation Consultants

On Wednesday December 5th, the Committee held a hearing to examine the role played by compensation consultants in determining the pay packages of senior executives at the largest publicly traded corporations. Corporate governance experts, institutional investors, and compensation consulting firms testified regarding the role of consultants in setting executive pay, efforts to prevent and manage conflicts of interest, and the adequacy of the information available to shareholders and the public. A preliminary transcript of this hearing is now available.

During the hearing, Chairman Waxman released a report regarding conflicts of interest at executive compensation firms.

The following witnesses testified:

• Charles Elson, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
• Meredith Miller, Assistant Treasurer for Policy, Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office
• Daniel F. Pedrotty, Director, Office of Investment, AFL-CIO
• Houman Shadab, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
• James F. Reda, Managing Director, James F. Reda & Associates
• Donald Lowman, Managing Director, Towers Perrin
• Michael Powers, Global Practice Leader for Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance, Hewitt Associates
• George Paulin, Chairman and CEO, Frederick W. Cook & Co.
• Charles Scott, President of Human Capital Consulting, Mercer Human Resources Consulting