Editor, Author at Minerva-Manifest

US legislators consider role of proxy voting firms

US legislators held a hearing recently (17th May) which considered possible bills which they believe would improve US financial transparency, regulation and capital market formation, including a proposal “To improve the quality of proxy advisory firms for the protection of …

Executive Pay watch emphasises US pay gap between CEOs and other employees

The US federation of trade unions, the AFL-CIO, has released its latest Executive Paywatch data which it says shows the average CEO of an S&P 500 company received an annual income of $12.4 million in 2015—335 times more money than …

US audit firms to disclose the partners who carry out audits

The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has announced that its rules to improve the transparency of the audit by disclosing the names of audit engagement partners, as well as information about other firms that participate in the audits, …

Nomination committees no longer the poor relation?

Nomination committees have been the poor relation of board committees, according to advisory firm, Ernst & Young (EY). However this appears to be changing as companies adapt to demands for a more professional approach to director recruitment and to scrutiny …

Two thirds of large UK businesses have suffered a cyber attack in the past year

Two thirds (65%) of large UK companies have admitted to having suffered a cyber breach in the past year, according to a survey conducted for the government.

The study also found that 69% of companies said that senior managers were …

Call on Vanguard to join others in responding to a low carbon economy future

Responsible investment advocacy group, ShareAction has called on US asset manager, Vanguard, to demonstrate its commitment to company engagement on climate issues by voting in favour of shareholder resolutions on climate risk at ExxonMobil and Chevron, in an open letter…

Governments pledge to fight corruption as pressure grows for more action

An international anti-corruption summit in London this week has led to an international communiqué in which countries have signed up to taking action to address corruption and reduce financial secrecy which hurts developing countries and their people. Participants also produced …

Dissent on pay continues at UK AGMs

Investors showed their concerns over executive pay at more AGMs this week. The largest rebellion was at bookmaker Ladbrokes which faced a 42% vote against its remuneration report – this was just above the 40% vote against received last year.…

Peace campaigners protest at BAE Systems AGM

Campaigners from the pressure group, Campaign against the Arms Trade (CAAT), which is calling for the UK to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, took their fight to the BAE Systems AGM last Wednesday. CAAT had bought shares in the …

Dutch update corporate governance code

The Dutch corporate governance code monitoring committee is currently revising its country’s corporate governance code – first released in 2003 – following a consultation on the proposed changes which ended last month. The committee is expected to publish the finalised …