LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Over three quarters of FTSE 100companies have changed pay arrangements in the past year inresponse to new disclosure rules and increasing scrutiny fromshareholders, a study has found.
A Deloitte report published on Thursday showed that manyfirms are seeking to better align the interests of directors andinvestors by focusing more on the longer term, increasing theshareholding requirements for directors and introducing simplerremuneration structures.
"This year we have seen an unprecedented amount of change toremuneration structures, undoubtedly prompted by more dialoguebetween companies and their shareholders following the newrequirements on disclosure and voting," Deloitte remunerationteam partner Stephen Cahill said.
Politicians are encouraging investors to hold companies toaccount more and have given them new powers, with shareholdervotes on pay made binding in Britain under new legislation inOctober 2013.
Deloitte's report showed salary increases rose on average by2.5 percent, with 35 percent of chief executives receiving nosalary increase. The number of firms which handed out increasesof over 3 percent fell from 25 percent last year to 16 percent.
The median bonus payout across all FTSE 100 companies in2013 was 70 percent of the maximum opportunity, compared with 87percent four years ago. In the top 30 companies, payouts werelower with a median of 58 percent of the maximum opportunity.
Deloitte said 35 firms had also introduced new long-termincentive plans in the last year, more than at any time in adecade. The number of firms with more than one long-term planfell from almost 50 percent a year ago to less than 30 percent.
Almost all companies now expect directors to hold a minimumnumber of shares, the report added, with over a quarter ofcompanies raising the minimum requirement in the past year.
After the "shareholder spring" of 2012, when a number ofinvestors abandoned their traditional back-seat position on themanagement of companies, last year's round of annual shareholdermeetings was a much more subdued affair.
However, investors returned to a more active stance thisyear, with several shareholders rejecting resolutions atblue-chip firms including Barclays, AstraZeneca, Pearson and Standard Chartered. (Reporting by Neil Maidment; editing by Susan Thomas)