IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jbkreg/v23y2022i2d10.1057_s41261-021-00155-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The transparency of remuneration policy in financial holding companies based on the example of the UniCredit Group

Author

Listed:
  • Agata Wieczorek

    (University of Lodz)

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the level of transparency of remuneration policy in financial holding companies (FHCs) using the example of the UniCredit Group, as well as to identify the factors that affect its level. It will also indicate to what extent international recommendations on remuneration policy transparency have been implemented into national legal regulations and codes of best practice. Using data collected on the basis of annual reports of financial institutions that belong to the UniCredit Group from 2005 to 2018, I found that the UniCredit Group’s remuneration policy has a low level of transparency. Although the dominant bank discloses all information required by international recommendations and regulations, the subsidiary banks’ disclosures are kept to a minimum. The study also showed that the level of transparency (measured by the remuneration policy transparency index) is influenced by all the governance characteristics examined (the size of the bank’s board, the appointment of independent directors in the bank’s board, the frequency of meetings of the remuneration committee, and the direct involvement of the shareholder) and firm characteristics (the size of the bank and the financial performance measured by ROE). The study also showed that not all countries have decided to implement international recommendations on remuneration policy into their legal regulations and codes of best practice (this is especially true for countries outside the European Union).

Suggested Citation

  • Agata Wieczorek, 2022. "The transparency of remuneration policy in financial holding companies based on the example of the UniCredit Group," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(2), pages 173-198, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jbkreg:v:23:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1057_s41261-021-00155-3
    DOI: 10.1057/s41261-021-00155-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41261-021-00155-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41261-021-00155-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brick, Ivan E. & Palmon, Oded & Wald, John K., 2006. "CEO compensation, director compensation, and firm performance: Evidence of cronyism?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 403-423, June.
    2. Barro, Jason R & Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Pay, Performance, and Turnover of Bank CEOs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 448-481, October.
    3. Jodie Nelson & Gerry Gallery & Majella Percy, 2010. "Role of corporate governance in mitigating the selective disclosure of executive stock option information," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 685-717, September.
    4. Dominik Gajewski, 2013. "The Holding Company as an Instrument of Companies’ Tax-Financial Policy Formation," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 7(1), March.
    5. Eng, L. L. & Mak, Y. T., 2003. "Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 325-345.
    6. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    7. Lorenzo Patelli & Annalisa Prencipe, 2007. "The Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure and Independent Directors in the Presence of a Dominant Shareholder," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 5-33.
    8. Peter Hahn & Meziane Lasfer, 2011. "The compensation of non-executive directors: rationale, form, and findings," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(4), pages 589-601, November.
    9. Surjit Tinaikar, 2014. "Voluntary disclosure and ownership structure: an analysis of dual class firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(2), pages 373-417, May.
    10. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Mthokozisi Mlilo & Tendai Gwatidzo, 2020. "Board remuneration, directors’ ownership and corporate performance: the South African evidence," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 491-511, July.
    11. Hubbard, R. Glenn & Palia, Darius, 1995. "Executive pay and performance Evidence from the U.S. banking industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 105-130, September.
    12. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    13. Lakhwinder Singh Kang & Payal Nanda, 2018. "What determines the disclosure of managerial remuneration in India?," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(1), pages 2-23, March.
    14. Ang, James & Lauterbach, Beni & Schreiber, Ben Z., 2002. "Pay at the executive suite: How do US banks compensate their top management teams?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1143-1163, June.
    15. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2004. "Board characteristics, accounting report integrity, and the cost of debt," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 315-342, September.
    16. Hristos Doucouliagos & Janto Haman & Saeed Askary, 2007. "Directors' Remuneration and Performance in Australian Banking," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1363-1383, November.
    17. Rebecca Demsetz & Marc R. Saidenberg, 1999. "Looking beyond the CEO: executive compensation at banks," Staff Reports 68, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    18. Andreas, Jörn Michael & Rapp, Marc Steffen & Wolff, Michael, 2010. "Determinants of director compensation in two-tier systems: evidence from German panel data," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-06, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    19. Livne, Gilad & Markarian, Garen & Milne, Alistair, 2011. "Bankers' compensation and fair value accounting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1096-1115, September.
    20. Swamy, Vighneswara, 2012. "Financial Holding Company Structure for India," MPRA Paper 47515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2003. "Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: a survey of the economic literature," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 7-26.
    22. Amon Chizema, 2008. "Institutions and Voluntary Compliance: The Disclosure of Individual Executive Pay in Germany," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 359-374, July.
    23. Robert P. Mayo, 1980. "Utilizing the bank holding company," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 4(Jul), pages 3-6.
    24. Agnieszka Słomka-Gołębiowska & Piotr Urbanek, 2015. "Wpływ nadzoru korporacyjnego na transparentność polityki wynagradzania kadry kierowniczej w bankach w Polsce," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 137-157.
    25. Ayman Haddad & Wasim AlShattarat & Naser AbuGhazaleh & Haitham Nobanee, 2015. "The impact of ownership structure and family board domination on voluntary disclosure for Jordanian listed companies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 203-234, December.
    26. Sutharson Kanapathippillai & Dessalegn Mihret & Shireenjit Johl, 2019. "Remuneration Committees and Attribution Disclosures on Remuneration Decisions: Australian Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(4), pages 1063-1082, September.
    27. Lin Guo & Abu Jalal & Shahriar Khaksari, 2015. "Bank executive compensation structure, risk taking and the financial crisis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 609-639, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marco Allegrini & Giulio Greco, 2013. "Corporate boards, audit committees and voluntary disclosure: evidence from Italian Listed Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 187-216, February.
    2. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    3. Sugato Chakravarty & Chiraphol N. Chiyachantana & Christine Jiang, 2011. "THE CHOICE OF TRADING VENUE AND RELATIVE PRICE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONAL TRADING: ADRs VERSUS THE UNDERLYING SECURITIES IN THEIR LOCAL MARKETS," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 34(4), pages 537-567, December.
    4. repec:csr:wpaper:1014 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Muhammad Haris & Hongxing Yao & Gulzara Tariq & Hafiz Mustansar Javaid & Qurat Ul Ain, 2019. "Corporate Governance, Political Connections, and Bank Performance," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, October.
    6. Huang, Paoyu & Ni, Yensen, 2017. "Board structure and stock price informativeness in terms of moving average rules," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 161-169.
    7. Matousek, Roman & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2016. "CEO compensation and bank efficiency: An application of conditional nonparametric frontiers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(1), pages 264-273.
    8. Alexander Merz, 2020. "Expensing performance-vested executive stock options: is there underreporting under IFRS 2?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 461-493, April.
    9. Stavros Kourtzidis & Nickolaos G. Tzeremes, 2019. "Investigating the determinants of firm performance," European Journal of Management and Business Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(1), pages 3-22, June.
    10. Rupjyoti Saha & K. C. Kabra, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure: A Synthesis of Empirical Studies," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 117-138, July.
    11. Sabrina Pisano & Luigi Lepore & Rocco Agrifoglio, 2015. "Corporate governance and information asymmetry between shareholders and lenders: an analysis of Italian listed companies," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 27-53.
    12. Anjala Kalsie & Shikha Mittal Shrivastav, 2016. "Analysis of Board Size and Firm Performance: Evidence from NSE Companies Using Panel Data Approach," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 9(2), pages 148-172, December.
    13. Reeb, David & Upadhyay, Arun, 2010. "Subordinate board structures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 469-486, September.
    14. Crespí-Cladera, Rafel & Pascual-Fuster, Bartolomé, 2014. "Does the independence of independent directors matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 116-134.
    15. Bill B. Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2012. "Do corporate boards matter during the current financial crisis?," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 39-52, April.
    16. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, October.
    17. Afzalur Rashid, 2015. "Revisiting Agency Theory: Evidence of Board Independence and Agency Cost from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 181-198, August.
    18. Etienne Redor, 2016. "Board attributes and shareholder wealth in mergers and acquisitions: a survey of the literature," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(4), pages 789-821, December.
    19. Agata Wieczorek, 2016. "Determinanty wynagrodzeń członków rad nadzorczych w bankach notowanych na Giełdzie Papierów Wartościowych w Warszawie," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 6, pages 43-68.
    20. Abdul Mansulu, 2021. "Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure Practices in Czech Republic," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 69(1), pages 111-125.
    21. Chaur-Shiuh Young & Liu-Ching Tsai & Pei-Gin Hsieh, 2008. "Voluntary Appointment of Independent Directors in Taiwan: Motives and Consequences," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1103-1137.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transparency; Remuneration policy; Corporate governance; Financial holding company; Financial sector;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:jbkreg:v:23:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1057_s41261-021-00155-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.