An independent committee set up to monitor how Dutch companies deal with corporate governance is set to recommend that supervisory boards take a much tougher line on executive pay during takeovers, reports Monday’s Financieele Dagblad.

Quoting unnamed sources, the paper says the Frijns commission will urge supervisory boards to stop top executives benefiting financially from takeovers by freezing shares during talks and possibly avoiding the use of options altogether. In addition, the paper says the commission will recommend that executive packages be simplified.
The paper says the measure aims to counteract the political unease over the pay-offs received by both Numico boss Jan Bennink (€80m) and ABN Amro’s Rijkman Groenink (€26m) after their companies were taken over.
The Frijns commission may also suggest replacing the shares in a CEO’s pay package with the cash equivalent.