Stepping up its campaign to shed light on the mysteries of executive pay, the Securities and Exchange Commission has sent letters to nearly 300 companies across America critiquing disclosures in this year's proxy statements and demanding more information.
The SEC's requests could set up a confrontation over details the agency wants that companies say are competitive and should remain secret. The federal securities regulator, for example, wants to know more about the targets and benchmarks companies use when they tie pay to performance.
The SEC's letters, which were faxed to chief executive officers, have caused much consternation -- and some complaints. Companies are racing to set up emergency meetings of their board compensation committees to answer the questions. Some are considering lobbying as a group against certain SEC requests, such as providing more information about specific performance goals, lawyers say.
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