The Dodd-Frank Act has made Say on Pay (SOP), the advisory vote on executive compensation a mandatory practice for publicly-traded companies. This required, but non-binding vote on executive compensation will carry a great deal of weight in 2011, 2012 and 2013, for the majority of U.S. public companies.
While there were only three companies – Occidental Petroleum, Motorola and KeyCorp – with failed SOP votes in 2010, there is already one company – Jacobs Engineering Co. (54% against) whose SOP and SOP frequency recommendation has gone down to defeat at the hands of shareholders.
