Actelion's shareholders rejected the executive pay plan of the company for 2012. This is the second Swiss company that has rejected the compensation proposals during its shareholder meeting.
The vote turn out was more than 60% rejecting the plan, which included a 5.2 million Swiss francs compensation for company founder and CEO Jean-Paul Clozel.
The shareholders that voted against the plan include Ethos, ISS and Actares. All three had urged other shareholders to reject the plans even if the company had tried to change the compensation report. Last year, the compensation plans passed by the slimmest of margins, a 55% approval vote.
According to Actelion Chairman Jean-Pierre Garnier during the shareholders meeting after announcing the vote results, "We will now continue our dialogue with shareholders to really design and implement a remuneration consisten with today's environment and the needs of the company and its owners."
Anger over executive pay plans are running high in Switzerland after the government was forced to provide bailout funds for UBS. The losses were due to the lavish bonus schemes that were hinged on risky investment plans.
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