Fat cats in doghouse over 'cash for failure'

ONE of Britain's leading investors has pitched into the 'rewards for failure' debate with a call for companies to claw back bonuses if subsequent events show they should not have been paid.

F&C Asset Management recently changed its corporate governance guidelines so executives could be forced to return cash, options or share awards if they had 'failed to exercise reasonable skill and care in the discharge of their duties'.

Companies in the investor's sights include Shell, which paid multimillion pound bonuses to directors despite admissions it had overstated its reserves by 23%.

Former chairman Sir Philip Watts and exploration and production director Walter van der Vijver pocketed £3.5m between them despite being censured by an independent review.

F&C said: 'Substantial restatements of the financial accounts should trigger a reassessment of performance-based remuneration where this has been calculated on the basis of inaccurate figures.'

Other recipients of apparently generous rewards for poor performance include Sir Peter Davis, the former Sainsbury's chief executive, who fought a legal battle over a £2.4m bonus after being ousted last year.

Some companies have already responded to calls for change. Camera retailer Jessops can pay directors as little as a week's pay if they leave in the wake of a sharp fall in its share price.