Report: France backs off caps on CEO pay

Report: French finance minister backs off bid to cap executive pay at private companies

PARIS (AP) -- France's finance minister says the government is no longer planning to cap executives' salaries in the private sector, amid concerns it is antagonizing the big businesses needed to reinvigorate the economy.

The Socialist government imposed limits last year on executive pay at state-run companies, and pledged to do the same in the private sector.

Pierre Moscovici confirms in an interview with business daily Les Echos, published Friday, that the government will pursue a 75-percent tax for salaries above 1 million euros ($1.3 million), to be paid by employers. But he says the government "will not go any farther than that" in its efforts to get companies to better spread their wealth among employees. "There will be no specific draft law on the governance of companies," he is quoted as saying.