SEC asks top firms about exec pay

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked the top brass of nearly 300 U.S. companies to better explain the pay packages of top executives, according to a report Friday.

The agency faxed the letters to chief executive officers at firms of various sizes and across many different industries, including Pfizer (Charts, Fortune 500), Schering-Plough (Charts, Fortune 500), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Charts, Fortune 500), Prudential (Charts, Fortune 500), Coca-Cola (Charts, Fortune 500) and General Electric (Charts, Fortune 500), said the Wall Street Journal. American Express is expected to receive a letter, according to a person familiar with the matter, said the report.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox is determined to reveal more information to investors about how executives are paid, according to the WSJ.

The letters critiqued the way companies disclosed pay details in this year's proxy statements and asked for elaboration, said the Journal.

Pfizer's letter, for instance, asked the company to better describe how its independent pay consultant arrived at his conclusions, according to the report.

Some companies say that the compensation details are competitive, according to the Journal, and should be allowed to remain private.

"The letters are intended to help issuers better explain why they've paid executives what they've paid them," John Nester, an SEC spokesman, told the Journal. The agency is giving firms until Sept. 21 to respond or explain why they can't, and the letters are expected to be made public later this year, said the report.