Swiss foundation for sustainable development, Ethos, has decided to vote against the re-election of Mr Peter Spuhler, member of the remuneration committee, at the UBS annual general meeting of shareholders to be held on 18 April 2007 in protest against excess executive pay. Ethos says that as shareholders in Switzerland do not have the opportunity to vote on the remuneration policy, it is very difficult for them to express their disapproval. At present, the only thing they can do is to oppose the re-election of board members responsible for setting executive pay. At the last UBS AGM, 25 per cent of votes opposed the creation of a pool of conditional capital for stock option plans, says Ethos. But UBS continues to set aside more than 3 per cent of capital every year for shares and options, whereas the maximum accepted under best practice is 1 per cent per year, according to the foundation. According to Ethos, the performance criteria for exercising stock options are not sufficiently challenging and the bonuses are not capped. UBS refuses to allow the shareholders to vote on the remuneration policy, even though last year the chairman of the remuneration committee stated that he was personally in favour of an advisory vote of the shareholders. Ethos also recommends that shareholders vote against the re-election of Mr Aziz Syriani, chairman of the remuneration committee of Credit Suisse at their AGM scheduled to take place on 4 May 2007. Ethos accepts that Credit Suisse has introduced a new incentive plan for executives and senior management which differs substantially from the old plans, but the latter will remain in force for five years and the benefits are most generous. Under all the company’s plans, on average, 3 per cent of the bank’s capital is distributed each year, essentially to executives and senior management.