The payment of bonuses in the UK and US is quickly followed by the annual meeting season, with extensive disclosure of executive pay. This puts remuneration committees, which set public companies' top pay, firmly under the spotlight every spring.

That light is more glaring this year with a bill just moved in the US Congress to introduce an advisory shareholder vote on executive pay along the British model. And there are calls in the UK to introduce further disclosures, such as the ratio between the chief executive's salary and that of the average employee.