SUPPORTING STATEMENT: On several occasions over the years, the bank received shareholder proposals from MÉDAC — and now from
Vancity — requesting the calculation and disclosure of the compensation ratio. Despite the substantial
number of votes received in support of these proposals, the bank still does not disclose its overall
compensation ratio, as has been mandatory for some time now in the United States, and as many companies
here in Canada already do.
A number of arguments have, of course, been put forward against the publication of such a ratio. Also,
despite the fact that the compensation ratio should be published for all employees in accordance with the
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards(1), public disclosure of non-confidential data under the “Countryby-Country Reporting” — Action 13(2) of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework(3) on BEPS (Base Erosion and
Profit Shifting(4)), an international initiative to which the government is a signatory — would enable the
calculation of significant remuneration ratios that would allow the overall remuneration ratio to be better
interpreted by enriching the description of the context.
Moreover, the disclosure of such non-confidential data to the general public — as is otherwise the case in
several other countries, including Europe — would be an exercise of transparency, goodwill and good faith
that would directly fuel efforts to fight tax evasion, tax avoidance, “tax havens” and other “laws of
convenience”.
For all these reasons, the bank must make public on an annual basis the non-confidential data contained in its
Country-by-Country Reporting