Sarah Wilson, Author at Minerva-Manifest

US Bank Boards after the crisis

A research study by Manifest’s US partners, PROXYGovernance Inc(PGI), reveals some interesting trends about US board governance. PGI’s review of Russell 3000 companies holding their 2009 annual meeting prior to July 1 reveals that boards of financial services …

He who shouts loudest: who’s pulling the strings of cross-border voting reform?

Any choral singer will be familiar with the concept: a choir singing an acapella section will often naturally go ‘flat and lose pitch’, only to have to painfully re-adjust pitch when the orchestra joins in. Conversely, if the orchestra were …

Want something done? Ask a busy regulator

It’s an old saying with a grain of truth, if you want something done, ask a busy person. Which is exactly what 50 + major investment professionals have done by joining the Social Investment Forum’s request to the SEC for …

First there was vote borrowing, now there’s vote buying

The governance world has been concerned about the possible abuses arising from so-called “stock lending”, particularly when it comes to voting rights. Many commentators have suggested that it should really be called “temporary stock selling” to better reflect the legal …

Financial Market Reform: US investors have their say

The Investors Working Group, a bi-partisan panel of experts created in February 2009 by the Council of Institutional Investors and the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity, has released its recommendations for reform and modernisation of the US financial …

SEC reform proposals: Disclosure & Proxy Access

Not to be outdone by the Walker Review this week, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has released the full text proposals from their July 1^st meeting which are aimed at enhancing pre- and post-meeting disclosure …

Calpers sues ratings agencies over sub-prime losses

The California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, is the US’s largest pension fund which provides retirement benefits to 1.6 million public employees. It’s also one of the most active proponents of good corporate governance on both a domestic and …

Walker Principles to go global?

The UK Government and Treasury has, perhaps not entirely surprisingly, warmly welcomed Sir David Walker’s proposals for the reform of the corporate governance of UK banks. At the same time, Lord Myners, the Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury has …

Asian voting is a missed opportunity

Voting levels at Asian companies are cause for concern concludes the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA). Talking to the Financial Times earlier this week, Jamie Allen, secretary general of ACGA has said that lack of investor involvement means that voting …

Sir David Walker’s 39 Steps

Sir David Walker’s review of the governance of UK banks, commissioned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has published 39 recommendations aimed at improving the governance of banks and other big financial institutions (BOFIs). The aim of the report was to …