ISS will hold a special Governance Forum webcast, Shareholder Vote on Compensation: What Do International Markets Say About Pay, on Wednesday, April 4 at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight time.

With notable recent examples of "pay for failure" and an ongoing options backdating scandal, both investor groups and members of the U.S. Congress are looking to put executive compensation up for shareholder approval in the United States. While the "say on pay" idea is already in place in other markets, notably in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia, the challenge for U.S. investors is how the beneficial effects of say on pay would take root in a distinctive U.S. corporate governance environment.

Panelists John Wilcox, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Governance, TIAA-CREF; Ian Greenwood, Manager, Hermes Equity Ownership Ltd, London; and Rients Abma, Executive Director of Dutch investor group Eumedion, will provide an international perspective on "say on pay" and share the lessons learned in these markets with U.S. companies and their investors. Stephen Deane, ISS Vice President and Director of the Center for Corporate Governance, will moderate the panel and also discuss some of the key findings from his forthcoming study, International Views on Say on Pay.