Finance directors have come out on top in the latest round of pay freezes, being the only senior executives to be predicted to get pay rises for 2010. While other senior colleagues experienced a 0% salary increase last year, finance directors saw a median increase of 2.9%, according to the 2009 Executive Reward Survey by Watson Wyatt. 'We are witnessing a departure from the long-running trend of executives' salaries increasing at a faster rate than those of other employees,' said Sue Bartlett, a senior executive reward consultant at Watson Wyatt. 'We are now seeing a much closer correlation between the performance of companies and the compensation executives are actually receiving.' The topic of executive remuneration remains in the spotlight, with the Queen's Speech earlier this week detailing proposals for a new Financial Services Bill that could give the UK financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, the power to void pay and bonus contracts if it deems them 'too risky'. At the same time, financial institution Citigroup announced that it would be keeping its chief executive Vikram Pandit on a salary of $1 (60p) per year, while its finance director John Gerspach is to receive a pay rise of $100,000 putting him on $500,000 a year.