A war of words has broken out between investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the regulator’s controversial proposal to amend its proxy voting rules. On 5 November, the SEC proposed new changes to how proxy advisory firms operate – with some criticising the move as a way to limit investors’ ability to hold public companies accountable. Under the proposed changes, proxy advisory firms would […]
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Mining titan BHP is facing growing shareholder dissent over its close links with industry groups that support the fossil fuel industry – with over a quarter of its investors voting to end these affiliations. At the Anglo-Australian mining group’s AGM held last week, 27.07% of shareholders voted for a resolution to suspend BHP’s membership of industry associations that are involved in lobbying found […]
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Since the global economic meltdown in 2007, the debate over shareholder primacy and who ‘owns’ a company has raged on. But at no time has the debate been as contentious as today with more stakeholders and industry commentators challenging the view that a corporation should exist principally to maximise shareholder wealth – a notion that was re-popularised by economist Milton Friedman in the 1970s. Just as climate change is no longer a topic taken seriously solely by environmentalists, ‘stakeholder primacy’ – if we […]
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The Financial Stability Board's recommendations on climate-related governance have moved a step closer to becoming statutory guidance after the Pensions Regulator, TPR, announced the formation of an industry working group to create best practice guidance for pension funds. The Pensions Climate Risk Industry Group (PCRIG) will draft guidance for trustees on climate risk using recommendations [...]
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Stewardship moves beyond box ticking The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a new UK Stewardship Code which is due to come into effect on 1 January 2020. The revised Code has set a higher standard for how money is invested on behalf of UK savers and pensioners that the FRC said reflects “the changing […]
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The annual Manifest Total Remuneration Survey is now out. The average pay of the UK’s top CEOs has fallen by more than 10% to £5.1m, though concerns remain this figure is still too high. The latest Manifest Total Remuneration Survey, now published by Minerva, is regarded as the authoritative study on UK executive pay, showed […]
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Study shows low adoption of deferred share plans A quarter of the UK’s biggest companies are failing to adopt the right remuneration polices to reward executive performance, according to a new study by The Purposeful Company, a management think tank. The research, which looked at the benefits of adopting deferred share plans, found that at […]
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A new poll shows that nearly half of investment professionals are struggling to adhere to the industry’s principal Code of Ethics. CFA UK’s 2019 annual ethics survey – which comprised the views of nearly 500 investors – showed that while ethics remain a top priority, 43% of respondents find it challenging to adhere to the […]
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The UK’s financial regulator has published its long-awaited proposals to tackle inadequate climate change disclosures by firms. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) proposals follow feedback from stakeholders to its October 2018 discussion paper on climate change and green finance. Its proposals include consulting on new rules to improve climate-related disclosures by certain firms and clarifying […]
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Environmental groups take aim at US corporates Eleven of the world’s leading environmental groups have written an impassioned open letter imploring America’s big corporates to step up their climate change efforts. The letter, published in the New York Times, urged CEOs of US corporations to adopt science-based climate policies to help achieve net-zero emissions by […]
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