NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson criticized the ethical leadership and the pay of U.S. corporate bosses in an interview published Monday.

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The Financial Times quoted Donaldson as saying there needs to be more progress in linking boardroom pay more closely to corporate performance.

"You must have an internal code of ethics that goes beyond the letter of the law," he told the paper. "Does that concept exist in all companies? No.

"All you have to do is look at executive compensation to recognize that we still have a way to go," he added.

Donaldson also defended the Sarbanes-Oxley law that imposed some new oversight on corporate accounting practices, saying that the law has helped change corporate behavior for the better.

He also told the FT he is determined to press ahead with proposed regulations to require mutual funds to have independent chairmen and for hedge funds to register with the SEC. Both proposals have sparked opposition in those industries.