英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jun. 12, 2010)
役員報酬　大衆迎合的な個別開示の強行（6月11日付・読売社説）
Pay disclosure law goes too far

The rule imposed by the Financial Services Agency on corporations to reveal the salaries paid to their executives must be regarded as excessive.
　役員個人の報酬額まで開示させるのは、行き過ぎだろう。

In February, the FSA announced the rule requiring listed companies to disclose the names of senior officials whose annual salaries exceed 100 million yen, as well as how much they were actually paid. This rule took effect in late March.
　金融庁が上場企業に対して、報酬が１億円以上の役員の氏名や報酬額を開示するよう義務付けた。

Under the FSA rule, listed corporations must release, by the end of the month, financial statement reports that include these details, if their accounts were closed in March.
　３月期決算企業の場合、該当する役員名と報酬額を記載した有価証券報告書を、今月中に公表しなければならなくなった。

Admittedly, it is important to encourage corporations to disclose meaningful information as thoroughly as possible. However, great care must be taken to protect the confidentiality of corporate executives' private information. In fact, business circles, including the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), have strongly objected to the new rule.
　情報開示の充実は大切だ。しかし、プライバシー保護の点で課題も多く、日本経団連など経済界も強く反対している。

It is difficult to say that the pros and cons of the rule were fully discussed before it went into effect. We believe the FSA should reconsider the propriety of obliging corporations to disclose their executives' salaries.
実施の是非について事前に論議が尽くされたとは言いがたい。金融庁は開示義務付けを見直すべきだ。

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Following the crowd

Before the rule came into force, companies were only required to reveal the total amounts of salaries paid to board members. The FSA has said its decision to oblige corporations to disclose each board member's salary reflects the fact that global financial crises triggered in recent years by turmoil in the United States and some European nations raised questions about the appropriateness of hefty paychecks pocketed by corporate executives in these countries. In defending the disclosure rule, the FSA said the United States and many European nations have introduced similar regulations.
　これまでは、役員全員の報酬総額を開示すればよかった。だが、欧米発の金融危機で、高額な役員報酬が問題視されたことや、欧米ではすでに実施している国が多いことから個別開示に踏み切ったと、金融庁は説明している。

The global financial crises were the end result of ill-advised decisions by executives at some U.S. and European financial institutions to carry out high-return, high-risk investment schemes, hoping to pick up large paychecks. These institutions were too extreme in paying their board members salaries in proportion to their performance. This is not the case with the large majority of Japanese corporations.
　欧米の金融機関は、役員が高額報酬欲しさに、利益率は高いがリスクも大きい投資に走り、危機を招いた。役員報酬の業績連動が極端すぎる点が問題だった。こうしたことは、ほとんどの日本企業には当てはまらない。

There is a marked difference in the pay levels of Japanese, U.S. and European companies. Chief executive officers at listed corporations in the United States earn an average of 3.9 million dollars annually (about 350 million yen). There are 300 U.S. companies whose CEOs are paid an average of 10 million dollars annually (900 million yen). This is in stark contrast to the state of affairs in this country. Board members of listed corporations here are paid, on average, a modest 25 million yen annually.
　報酬の水準も違う。米国の上場企業の最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は、平均３９０万ドル（３・５億円）で、１０００万ドル（９億円）を超える企業が３００社もある。日本の上場企業は、役員報酬の平均が２５００万円にすぎない。

Shiseido Co. has voluntarily revealed the salaries paid to three board members. The major cosmetics manufacturer's president and another executive receive more than 100 million yen in annual salaries. Shiseido has reason to pay annual salaries on this scale, given its status as a large corporation.
　資生堂が３人の役員報酬を自主開示し、社長ら２人が１億円以上だった。大企業のトップクラスなら１億円以上もいるだろう。

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Privacy concerns

A key sticking point in corporate disclosure is whether company shareholders have suffered losses through disproportionately high salaries paid to the firm's executives, compared with the company's size and business performance. This objective could be achieved under the old rule that only required disclosure of the total sum of salaries paid to board members.
　チェックすべきは、会社の規模や業績に比べて報酬が異常に高すぎ、株主の利益を損なっていないかだ。それなら、従来の総額開示で、事は足りる。

There are concerns that including personal information, such as individual corporate officials' salaries, in financial statement reports could open the door to wrongdoing. These reports can be easily seen by anyone using the Internet. Access to this information online could encourage crimes targeting these officials.
　報酬額という個人情報を、不特定多数の人がネットで簡単に見られる有価証券報告書に載せることの副作用が心配だ。例えば犯罪などの助長である。

Several years ago, the government decided not to disclose a list of the nation's highest taxpayers. This was because a stream of top taxpayers had been singled out as targets of telephone fraud and harassment. We fear the FSA's disclosure rule could spark similar abuses.
　所得税の「長者番付」が廃止されたのは、振り込め詐欺などの犯罪や、嫌がらせの標的にされる例が後を絶たなかったためだ。同じ轍(てつ)は踏まないだろうか。

When the FSA proposed the new rule in February, it sought opinions from the public about it. As it turned out, the financial watchdog body received many objections to the rule. However, financial services minister Shizuka Kamei enforced the rule without setting a grace period. "If [a company] doesn't want its [board members'] hefty paychecks made known to the public, they could be reduced," Kamei said.
　金融庁が今年２月、個別開示案を示した際、意見募集に多くの反対意見が寄せられた。だが、亀井金融相は「世間に知れて困るなら報酬を下げればよい」などとして、猶予期間も設けず実施した。

The rule has been implemented too forcibly and hastily. The disclosure requirement--apparently intended to play to the gallery by taking a swipe at large corporations--is little more than a form of populism.
　あまりに強引かつ拙速だ。これでは、大企業たたきで喝采(かっさい)を得ようとする、ポピュリズム（大衆迎合）政治そのものではないか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 11, 2010)
（2010年6月11日02時07分 読売新聞）