Clearly executive compensation is a problem for many public companies, but what can shareholders do to curb the pay? Well, data from Institutional Shareholder Services - a proxy firm - suggests that activist shareholders have been stepping up in their efforts to draft resolutions to curb executive pay. An article in Business Week quoted ISS as citing as many as 170 pay proposals submitted to U.S. public companies this proxy season alone - and that number will only grow. This compares to only 140 submitted during the last proxy season in February.

Many of these resolutions are drafted in the fall months for presentation during annual meetings, the bulk of which are during the spring months. These resolutions are then brought up at the meetings where it is decided whether or not they will be put on the proxy statements. These proxy statements are then sent out to all shareholders, so any mention of executive compensation definitely raises awareness very quickly.

Several unique proposals are in development, demanding everything from better reporting on stock option grants to peer performance based compensation. These new proposals, combined with the SEC's upcoming regulations, will enable investors to better track and even regulate executive compensation. For more free, detailed executive compensation figures and analysis check out ExecutiveDisclosure.com.