Rule to Disclose Executive Pay Likely

Federal regulators, hoping to shed more light on corporate pay policies, are expected to adopt rules this week forcing companies to say how much top executives really take home.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is also likely Thursday to make it easier for dissident shareholders to win election to company boards, and for holders to challenge management over corporate strategy.

Big shareholders--including pension and mutual funds--would be freer to communicate with one another under the plan, making them better positioned to fight management in corporate proxy battles and bring about change in struggling companies.

The pay and proxy measures, which will be voted on separately at Thursday’s meeting, were proposed in June and are among the most hotly debated policies in years.

SEC officials said the plans have undergone fine tuning and streamlining. But their overall thrust remains the same, officials said, even though some proposals--including easier election of dissident shareholders--have been altered.