The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted unanimously to adopt a rule that would require companies to disclose more details about the compensation paid to their executives. The new rules, which go into effect next year, mean that public companies will now have to include in their annual filings tables indicating how much in compensation their CEOs, chief financial officers and an additional three top-paid executives received. The rule changes just as the agency is broadening its investigation of companies it suspects of back-dating stock options, a probe that reportedly involves around 80 firms. Just last week, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco filed the first stock-options criminal complaint against Brocade Communications System’s former CEO, who is charged with fraud.
