Executive remuneration is and will continue to be an emotive subject. Political implications aside, if we distil the issue, what we are seeing is a majority shareholder – the government – grappling with how to enforce a pay for performance culture, amid unprecedented public scrutiny. The principles underlying executive remuneration have not changed: it must be competitive enough to attract and motivate the right talent, and incentive plans should encourage executives to achieve business priorities, short and long-term. What is different is that payouts must also be demonstrably reasonable regarding the performance delivered and the risk taken by the organisation.