Farepak farce heaps humiliation on Cable and his Insolvency Service If enacted, the amendments to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill should give shareholders more sway over how boardrooms set pay. That said, if large shareholders had been carrying out their duty as stewards of client money properly, then Cable's regulations would be unnecessary. But it was their lack of engagement that contributed to excessive and inappropriate pay at some companies. It has taken a number of high-profile pay revolts to persuade boardrooms that company owners are now serious about remuneration, arguably making Cable's reforms redundant. But they're going to happen come what may and in large part are fairly harmless. It's irrelevant whether directors are well paid (and Cable's reforms don't attempt to regulate the amount people get). What matters is that they are paid well. The amount someone earns is less significant than how they earn it. Packages need to be structured to pay base salaries at or below a sector's median with longer-term out-performance of meaningful targets rewarded, albeit mainly in shares. Packages can be improved the more executives are willing to invest their own money in their company's shares. The more constructive engagement there is between boards and shareholders, the less likely this year's pay revolts will be repeated. Confrontation will become conversation, framed around Cable's more formal arrangements. The Government is giving shareholders more influence over boards. This time they must use it. Olympic packages leaving empty seats Despite the difficulty people have had buying tickets for Olympic events, there could still be empty seats in the main arena. Although weekend reports revealed some countries selling their allocations illegally, suggesting strong demand from somewhere for tickets, some of the best seats risk remaining unoccupied. A particular problem surrounds seats allocated as part of corporate hospitality packages. These packages are proving difficult to sell. Price is one reason but the Bribery Act may be having an effect too. Companies are becoming circumspect in offering and receiving freebies. And that's being reflected in the take-up and price of these packages. One FTSE 100 company I was chatting to the other day told me about an official 10-person hospitality package it was offered initially for £117,000 plus a 24pc service charge. There was no interest at that price so the supplier slashed the price in half to £58,500 plus the service charge. Again, no takers. So it was offered again at £14,700 plus the service charge. Still it went begging. If these packages remain unsold, that represents a lot of fine food not being eaten and fine wines not being quaffed, but it also represents a lot of seats not being sat on - and presumably not the cheap seats either. If these packages are being left on the shelf then the Games' organising committee should ensure a clearing process well ahead of the opening ceremony that ensures any seats not sold as part of these lavish packages go on sale on a stand-alone basis for ordinary punters to enjoy.