Securities regulators proposed requiring that companies disclose the pay gap between chief executives and their employees, a move that is breathing new life into the executive-compensation debate and could give activist investors more ammunition to curb pay. On Wednesday, a divided Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 to float a controversial rule that union pension funds and other supporters say they will seize on to slow pay increases at firms where they consider CEO compensation to be excessive. The SEC’s plan, a requirement of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, would give investors more information about pay disparities. It would require firms to disclose median worker pay and compare it with CEO compensation. The SEC said it is acting because Congress told it to, adding “the objectives or intended benefits” of the rule aren’t clear. More in the Wall Street Journal here.
