5 over 2008 according to the firm Equilar

Crisis requires, patterns of large corporations pay continues to decline. Average total compensation received by the Presidents, CEOs and Presidents of the Executive Board of the groups of the CAC 40 fell by 14 in 2009, according to Proxinvest twelfth annual report (1). The average including the fixed salary, variable and stock-options and free shares EUR 3.1 million, said the firm to investors. The median separating the two halves index is almost stable at 2.7 million. More than half (19) 32 Executive Presidents in Office both in 2008 in 2009 have seen their emoluments retreat. Comparison, the median compensation of the Executive leaders of the & S P 500 in the United States has reached approximately 7.5 million in 2009, fell by 8.5 over 2008, according to the firm Equilar.

"P everal factors played: the first crisis, but also the implementation of the Afep-Medef code and finally the fact that several companies have been helped by the State, explains Loïc Dessaint, Director of Proxinvest.". Increases in wages on a background of restructuring are much less accepted than in the past. "" The pressure of the shareholders: the France is the European country where the resolutions of the general assemblies for the wages in terms of stock options, bonus shares, or of the severance, Editor's note are the most challenged ", supports Pierre - Henri Leroy, President of the cabinet. The decline of 14 is put in perspective after decreases by 25 in 2008, and 17 in 2007. "Too often, the performance criteria for the bonus and salary plans are not provided or is that template t", said the study.

"Problem of transparency."

In detail, the "pay" share (fixed and variable) increased by 5 for the patterns of the CAC 40. The decline in earnings is linked to the part "shareholder" (staffing options and free shares), which fell by 46. It is also what allows to understand the disruption of the ranking of the best paid executive Presidents. Carlos Ghosn, at Renault, arrived on the first step of the CAC 40, with EUR 9.2 million in 2009. This is essentially his earnings at Nissan. The manager was unveiled for the first time in June the level of remuneration as President and CEO of the Japanese manufacturer-891 million yen collected in 2009 - 2010 is approximately 8 million, share variable was boosted by the return to the benefits of Nissan. If the firm Proxinvest said "a problem of transparency" on this compensation at Nissan, a spokesman for the manufacturer said "that before the fiscal year 2009, the Japan did not make public the nominal compensation.

At the second place, figure Christopher Viehbacher, arrived at the head of Sanofi-Aventis end of 2008. "The new are sometimes better paid, especially if they require close wages of those American patterns", resumed Loïc Dessaint. Bernard Arnault, LVMH (owner of "echoes") who was in the lead in 2008, in turn, him, to the third position of the lighthouse (with EUR 7.6 million) index, because of the decline of a plan of options. Note that it is exceeded by a pattern outside the CAC 40: Bernard Charlès, at Dassault Systèmes, which received EUR 8.1 million. It is the only leader of the SBF 120 index to have a remuneration above the "socially acceptable" ceiling fixed by Proxinvest to 240 times the minimum wage, whereas they were 9 in 2008.

Study art also the remuneration of the non-executive Presidents finger, "reaching the highest EU levels. It rose from 864.000 to 928.048 euros on average. For example, Jean-François Dehecq (who left his place at Sanofi-Aventis to Serge Weinberg in the spring) won in total approximately EUR 2.3 million in 2009. "However, the gap between the larger salaries business leaders and non-executive Presidents has reduced." Only a minority of them received a stock or free shares. "Some as Lindsay Owen-Jones, in l ' Oréal, have abandoned their variable," notes Cyrille Bellanger, in Proxinvest.