Germans clamp down on fat cats

Germany is cracking down on executive pay in a bid to stem rising anger among voters ahead of next year's general election.

Planned legislation includes curtailing stock options to reward directors. Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party has set up a working group to hammer out rules that will go before parliament at the end of the year.

The conservatives and their coalition partners the Social Democrats agree that executive pay must be capped, so it is inevitable that the proposals will become law. Big pay deals for TV entertainers are also in their sights.

The disclosure that Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking earned £48 million in the past year sparked uproar at a time of rising concern about inflation.

The compensation of directors at blue-chip companies has risen seven-fold since 1987, a study by consultancy Kienbaum found.