By Angela Harmantas
Pay packages for CEOs come under the microscope, good news for Canadian exports and debating the risks of doing business in developing economies – here’s what you need to know today:
A new regulation by the US Securities and Exchange Committee will force publicly listed companies to disclose the pay ratio between the company’s CEO and the average salary of their employees. It’s an interesting move in light of the furor we’ve seen over executive pay packages since the 2008 financial crisis, but I’m highly skeptical if it will result in any major changes to compensation – either for CEOs or the average employee. As it stands, the chief executives of some of the largest US companies earn on average – wait for it – 303 times as much as the median salary of employees. Do you think it’s deserved?
It’s been a bit of a gloomy few weeks when we talk about the Canadian economy, so news that Canadian exports experienced their biggest monthly gain since December 2006 is a bright spot that we can hold on to. According to data released by Statistics Canada, The value of Canada’s merchandise exports to other countries rose to $44.6 billion in June and exports to the United States rose 7.1 per cent to $34.2 billion. What interests me about some of these numbers is that the total amount of exports to countries other than the US – Canada’s biggest trading partner – increased by 3.8 percent. A diversified economy is a strengthened economy.
News that the former CEO of Centerra Gold was detained in Bulgaria at the request of Kyrgyzstan last week may send a chill down the spines of companies with assets in developing economies. Centerra Gold, which manages the Kumtor gold project in the former Soviet state, has been in a dispute with the government of Kyrgyzstan for years over the ownership and revenue of Kumtor, and Leonard Homeniuk’s arrest appears to be related to allegations of improper transactions with state officials, according to this Toronto Star article. It’s always risky doing business in emerging markets – do you think the benefits outweigh the potential costs?
Have a comment or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you! Contact me at angela@smallcappower.com or on Twitter: @aharmantas.
