Economic security

Cards on the Table: the SEC’s New CEO Pay Disclosure Rule

Exploding pay packages for Fortune 500 and Wall Street CEOs were briefly back in the headlines this summer, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission has finally approved a rule requiring Wall Street and other companies to calculate the ratio of the CEO’s pay to a median worker’s. The new rule, part of the Dodd-Frank finance reform bill of 2010, applies to larger domestic firms, went into effect after a 3-2 party-line SEC vote. That narrow margin reflected opposition from the US Chamber of Commerce—the dominant business organization—versus over a quarter million public commentsthat swamped the SEC, mostly supportive of the rule. Not quite the four million public comments received by the Federal Communications Commission regarding net neutrality, but still pretty impressive!