Renault-Nissan has no present strategies to introduce an additional bonus plan for executives at the carmaking alliance, CEO Carlos Ghosn stated on Thursday.
Ghosn made the remarks at Renault’s yearly shareholder meeting after Reuters reported that alliance bankers had prepared plans created to channel millions of euros in additional, concealed bonuses to Ghosn and other supervisors through a specifically produced service company.
“This is the document of an expert who pertained to make a specific number of proposals,” Ghosn stated. “We are open to propositions, however that does not indicate when we listen to an idea that we are going to put it into practice.”
The incentive plan proposition has not been put to the Renault board or executive committee, Ghosn stated, including that no decision was anticipated at any time soon on such a plan.
The initial proposal drew criticism from some financiers already worried about compensation, governance problems and a continuous French criminal investigation into allegations of systematic Renault diesel emissions fraud. The company has rejected any misbehavior.
“Such a scheme would bypass the Renault and Nissan shareholders,” stated Dieter Waizenegger, head of the activist CtW Investment Group, before the meeting. “It breaches every principle of transparency.”
Under the incentive strategy proposal reported by Reuters, the alliance partners and Nissan-controlled Mitsubishi are going to pay a share of synergies into an independent Dutch-registered company for redistribution to their executives, with one-third scheduled for Ghosn and a few of leading managers.
