THE GLOBE AND MAIL: When Justin Welby became Archbishop of Canterbury last month, he made it clear the Church of England would become more active on issues involving business ethics. And his first move is to go after executive bonuses.
Archbishop Welby, who is also the spiritual head of Anglicans worldwide, is no stranger to business. He is a former oil company executive and he sits on a British parliamentary committee that is reviewing the conduct of banks in the wake of the financial crisis. He also once wrote a paper titled “Can Companies Sin?” and concluded they could.
In one of the first major announcements since he was enthroned, the Church of England announced last week that it would use its hefty investment clout to rein in executive bonuses, which it said had become excessive owing to a culture of entitlement and greed at many companies. Drawing on the Bible and a variety of studies, the church said it will vote against bonuses that exceed 100 per cent of base salary.
“Awards of more than 100 per cent of base salary can only be justified if an executive director has delivered extraordinary results through exceptional performance to the significant benefit of shareholders,” the church said in the new policy. It added: “Businesses are vehicles for wealth creation, without which there can be no wealth distribution. However, businesses cannot contribute to their full potential to a good society and human flourishing if they have no regard for the society in which they operate, and if individuals in business have regard only for themselves.” » | Paul Waldie | London | The Globe and Mail | Monday, April 22, 2013
