Pension funds in pay warning to corporate big-hitters - papers

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has told Britain’s biggest companies to keep the lid on executive pay and bonuses or risk shareholder revolts, as it steps up its campaign to improve corporate governance in UK boardrooms.

The NAPF, whose members own about 13% of the stock market, has written to all FTSE 350 chairmen urging them to exercise "pay restraint" for their highest earners, according to The Times.

In the letter, seen by The Times, the NAPF demands remuneration structures that are more closely matched to the interests of shareholders and calls on every company to carry out a "best practice" review of its compensation culture.

"The objective should be to create simpler structures which better align interests over the longer term and which expose management to significant financial risk in the event of failure to achieve agreed goals," the NAPF writes in the letter, which is signed by Joanne Segars, chief executive, and David Paterson, head of corporate governance at the association. Full story...

Hedge funds and private equity firms are demanding an eleventh-hour alteration to proposals by the European Union which could force them to defer as much as 60% of their annual pay, reports The Telegraph.

The powerful Swedish contingent of the European Commission has distributed a "final" draft of recommendations that include measures to curb funds' pay that are even tougher than those set to be imposed on banks. The document concludes that high-rolling managers should have 40pc of their "variable remuneration" spread over "at least three years" and in cases where the "variable element is particularly high", then 60% of the pay should be deferred.

The funds' have called lobby groups in Brussels and Sweden to plead their case. Sources in the UK in possession of the document told The Daily Telegraph that they had been warned by Brussels that it would be published yesterday afternoon. However, the details could now be subject to last minute changes. Full story...

John Healey, housing minister, will lambast subprime lenders on Friday for failing to show restraint towards borrowers who are falling behind on repayments, the Financial Times says.

Mr Healey will tell the Council of Mortgage Lenders' annual conference that "specialised lenders" accounted for two-thirds of repossessions in the last quarter, despite only representing a small proportion of market share.

The minister cited the Financial Services Authority's order last month that GMAC pay a £2.8m fine and repay £7.7m to customers as proof the authorities were taking a tougher approach to the industry. He told the FT that the FSA would further tighten its regulations on unfair charges in the New Year. Full story...