Royal Dutch Shell is to pay $381 million plus interest to a foundation representing over 150 institutional investors in nineteen countries. The settlement, following a binding declaration by the Amsterdam Court of Appeals, is considered to be a milestone, given that European courts lack a class action mechanism for pursuing securities fraud claims. The settlement […]
Read MoreAt today’s AGM of Tomkins plc (FTSE 250 constituent), only 38.8% of shareholders voted in favour of the remuneration report resolution. Measured in terms of dissent (61.2%), the rebellion against the remuneration report ranks just outside the top ten all-time for such resolutions, however the resolution did manage to pass. The dissent was split between […]
Read MoreOn Shareolder Voting Trends … It shows that the average level of support for management proposals rose from 75.8% in 2006 to 84% last year. In Europe, Manifest, a shareholder-advice firm, says 97% of all shareholder votes cast in Europe last year were supportive of management…. June 2nd 2009 Evening Standard >> ….A big problem, […]
Read MoreYou don’t need telling that the onset of the worst global recession since the 1930s has led to a sharp rise in bankruptcies among small businesses and to hundreds of thousands of job losses. But 2008 wasn’t especially painful for a typical chief executive of a FTSE 100 company, according to a new independent survey […]
Read More“Voting down Shell’s pay plan sent a chastened company back to consult over revised proposals. It also set a new high-water mark for annual meetings in a year marked by battles about pay across Europe and an increase in No votes. According to Manifest, the proxy voting agency, four UK companies’ remuneration reports have been […]
Read MoreManifest’s campaign to ensure shareholders at Irish companies have the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the remuneration report gathered momentum over the weekend, with a full page article in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. Last month Manifest filed shareholder resolutions at five Irish companies seeking an advisory say-on-pay vote. The Sunday […]
Read MoreAs investors brace themselves for a slew of Japanese AGM meetings (the overwhelming majority of AGMs seem set to be held between 23 and 26 June), a compromise has emerged between the Keidanren (Japan’s business lobby) and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry over proposals to improve corporate governance. The Ministry is due […]
Read MoreBeale and Company solicitors have published research which has found that only 17% of 100 audit firms had managed to agree a contract with a client to limit their liability for damages. A report in Accountancy Age cited the research, which noted that the use of a liability limitation agreement (‘LLA’) was more prevalent among […]
Read MoreNine leading US pension funds have announced that they will be disclosing their voting intentions for shareholder meetings on a new web portal, ProxyDemocracy. AFSCME Employees Pension Plan, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Calvert Investments, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Domini Social Investments, the Florida State Board of Administration, Green Century and Trillium Asset Management are making their individual proxy […]
Read MoreA new study prepared by Manifest’s US partner, PROXY Governance with sponsorship by the IRRC Institute, “Effectiveness of Hybrid Boards,” analyzes 120 “hybrid boards” formed from 2005 through 2008 to evaluate their effectiveness in two areas: changes in business strategy and corporate governance structures; and changes in shareholder value measured both absolutely and relative to […]
Read More