President Nicolas Sarkozy has been seeking to clamp down on excessive executive pay in his effort to moralise French capitalism. He has warned the country's leading bosses he would be prepared to introduce legislation to outlaw the unacceptable award of golden parachutes for failure unless they adopt stringent voluntary governance standards.

The two leading French employers' associations - Medef and Afep - have since agreed on a common code of conduct. In response to the latest government warnings, they claim that 25 of the country's biggest companies have already adopted the voluntary rules. They expect the remaining CAC40 companies to comply by year-end.