On July 31, 2009 the House passed the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009 (H.R. 3269) by a 237-185 vote. The bill would require annual advisory votes on executive compensation ("say on pay") at public companies after the SEC has issued final rules on the advisory vote. The proposed legislation requires the SEC to issue final rules within six months of enactment. The bill would also permit separate shareholder votes on "golden parachute" payments. The bill also establishes independence standards for compensation committees. Finally, the bill would require financial institutions to disclose to the appropriate federal regulator whether incentive pay structures are aligned with sound risk management and certain other related disclosures and would permit federal regulators to issue rules prohibiting financial institutions from maintaining incentive pay arrangements which encourage inappropriate risks. The Senate is not expected to consider the bill until later this year.

The full text of H.R. 3269 is available here.

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