No APRA limits on executive pay

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority may take into account the balance between short-term and long-term incentives in setting executive pay but won't otherwise seek to restrict the level of pay at financial institutions.

Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, won some plaudits for some populist bashing of the pay arrangements for bankers in a speech in mid October, widely interpreted as the government taking a policy position to restrict excessive executive pay in some fashion.

It looks like APRA won't cooperate and follow the government policy. Rather, APRA chief John Laker indicated the regulator would tackle incentives that are too short term.

In a speech to the national conference of Chartered Secretaries Australia (and reported by the Financial Review) Laker said some pay structures encourage excessive growth and that risk was not adequately factored into the incentive structures.