Nadhim Zahawi
Main Page: Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative - Stratford-on-Avon)Department Debates - View all Nadhim Zahawi's debates with the HM Treasury
(12 years, 10 months ago)
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Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
14. What steps he is taking to tackle excessive executive pay.
Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)
17. What steps he is taking to tackle excessive executive pay.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), yesterday announced a package of proposals designed to address the market failure in setting executive pay. The proposals represent a major step forward in empowering shareholders, reforming remuneration committees and improving transparency in order to give shareholders the tools that they need in order to control unacceptable rewards for failure.
Mr Speaker
Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman might have been groping his way towards order, but he had not quite arrived. We will have to leave it there for today. We are specifically talking about excessive executive pay.
Nadhim Zahawi
In the forthcoming Financial Services Bill, should we not introduce criminal sanctions for gross negligence at the helm of a systemically important bank, to ensure that no rewards for failure would be forthcoming for those who are masters of nothing?
Danny Alexander
That was mentioned explicitly in the Financial Services Authority’s report on the failures of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Lord Turner suggested three options for changing the law, and the Joint Committee that has scrutinised the draft Financial Services Bill has recommended that the Government give consideration to the report’s recommendations. We agree with that, and we will be publishing a joint consultation document with the FSA later this spring, which will consider a range of possible measures.