MarineMax executive pay swells in 2015

In recognition of improved performance and an effort to compete with salaries paid by similar firms, a Clearwater recreational boat dealer increased pay packages for its top executives, jumping between 41 and 59 percent.

William McGill Jr., chairman, president and CEO, was the highest-paid executive in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. at MarineMax(NYSE: HZO). He received $2.07 million in total compensation, up 53.4 percent from the previous year.

McGill's salary increased 4.5 percent, to $575,000, and he received nearly $725,000 in cash incentives and $769,000 in stock awards, both tied to performance.

Margie Manning, Tampa Bay Business Journal

Dec 24, 2015, 10:59am EST Updated Dec 24, 2015, 12:42pm EST

Read more here.

Apple’s bold compensation plan has the company and CEO Tim Cook facing a challenging year

Back in the summer of 2013, facing a modest shareholder revolt, Apple CEO Tim Cook did one of the more remarkable things I’ve seen in years of writing about corporate compensation:

He volunteered to rewrite the rules for the restricted stocks units he had already been granted.

He was under no obligation to do so. But shareholders had seen the company’s stock cut almost in half over the past year and were getting nervous. There was lots of thumb-sucking over whether Apple could still innovate under the leadership of the man who had replaced Steve Jobs.

CHRIS O'BRIEN JANUARY 7, 2016 2:49 AM

Read more here.

Regulations Limiting Executive Compensation and Administrative Costs of State-Funded Providers Upheld by Appellate Division, Second Department

On December 30, 2015, the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department issued a decision in Agencies for Children’s Therapy Servs., Inc. v. N.Y. St. Dep’t of Health,1upholding the regulations promulgated by the Department of Health (“DOH”) pursuant to Executive Order 38 limiting executive compensation and administrative costs for certain State-funded providers.2  The Court’s decision resolves a lower court split within the Second Department3 by reversing the Supreme Court, Nassau County’s prior ruling that adoption of the regulations had exceeded DOH’s statutory authority and violated the separation of powers doctrine, and upholding a Supreme Court, Suffolk County decision that found Executive Order 38 and the regulations to be constitutional.  Previously issued Clients & Friends Memoranda discuss the regulations and litigation challenging them in greater detail.4 

Cadwalader, Dec 31, 2015

Read more here.

How Executives Can Minimize the Retirement Tax Hit

For many highly paid executives, retirement isn’t just about capping off a career, or figuring out what they are going to do for the next phase of their lives. It’s also about juggling large payouts from the stock awards and deferred compensation they may have accumulated over the years.

Executives can minimize the tax hit and smooth out income from such corporate perks in the early years of retirement, financial planners say, but it is important that they start the process one to two years before they plan to leave. Among other things, advisers recommend that executives take an inventory of what their short-term cash-flow needs will be in retirement and review company policies on how and when they can draw down deferred pay.

By 

LIZ MOYER

Nov. 1, 2015 10:05 p.m. ETThe Wall Street Journal
Read more here.

The Executive Paycheck Myth

Every religion has a creation myth.

Pay-for-performance is the fundamental tenet of the American approach to executive compensation. While groups in Britain and Switzerland have proposed capping executive pay, investors and regulators in the United States are mainly concerned when there’s a mismatch of pay versus performance. As long as a company is doing well, the sky’s the limit.

Congress has embraced pay-for-performance. As mandated by the financial reform law known as the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rules earlier this year to make it easier to compare actual pay with actual performance. The rules will require public companies to provide a table comparing the amount of compensation paid to top executives with the total shareholder return of the company. Total shareholder return measures the change in the company’s stock price, plus any dividends paid out to shareholders.

By  VICTOR FLEISCHER NOV. 4, 2015 NEW YORK TIMES

Read more here.

United States: Securities And Exchange Commission Proposes Rules Regarding Claw-Back Of Executive Compensation

Some five years after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("the Act"), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to work through the rule-making process required by the Act. Today, as part of that effort, the SEC released proposed rules governing the claw-back by public companies of erroneously awarded compensation. If adopted, these rules will require each securities exchange or national securities association that lists securities to adopt listing standards in compliance with proposed Rule 10D-1 (the "Proposed Rule") of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Last Updated: October 1 2015

Article by Brian DeFoe

Lane Powell PC

mondaq

Read more here.

Safety Suffers as Stock Options Propel Executive Pay Packages

Outsize executive pay packages have frequently been a flash point for stock market investors. Lavish executive compensation at publicly traded companies should be a significant concern for consumers, too.

That’s the message of a new study by three academics at the University of Notre Dame. Their research focuses on companies that rely heavily on stock options in executive compensation. They have found a correlation between generous option grants and the incidence of serious product recalls.

The New York Times, Fair Game By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, SEPT. 11, 2015

Read more here.