The relationship between the chairman and the chief executive of a company is absolutely fundamental according to Sir David Walker, former chairman of Barclays, speaking on Radio 4’s, The Bottom Line. In a discussion about managing the boardroom, Michael Jackson, venture capitalist and former chair of Sage Group, said the main role of the chair […]
Read MoreTesco has been told to introduce significant changes to practices and systems after the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, found the supermarket giant had seriously breached a legally-binding Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code) to protect groceries suppliers. Tacon’s investigation covered the period 25 June 2013 to 5 February 2015 and in that time she found that […]
Read MoreAn agreement has been reached between 31 countries for the automatic exchange of information on the taxes paid by, and the economic activity of, multinational businesses. This increase in transparency between countries should help tax authorities understand if multinationals are actually paying what is considered a fair rate of tax in the countries where they do business […]
Read MoreThe Stewardship of Sustainability The Minerva Say on Sustainability framework gives pension funds, asset managers and other interested stakeholders accessible reports and data tools to understand how investee companies do (or do not) embed sustainability in their governance systems. Sustainability – Investor Voice or Exit? Rather than resorting to divestment or boycott campaigns, giving shareholders […]
Read MoreIn December we wrote about the AMNT’s Red Lines Voting Policy and Manifest’s new service “Red Lines Monitor” [link]. AMNT hopes that Red Lines Voting will foster better understanding of stewardship issues by lay pension trustees and encourage greater dialogue around sustainable governance for long-term success. The Red Lines run alongside projects such as the […]
Read MoreThis year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos gave political and business leaders an opportunity to take stock of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21) agreed last year. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, told participants said now it is time to act. “The only agenda greater than […]
Read MoreThe UK’s accounting regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), is to consider whether the accountancy firm, KPMG, or any individuals require further investigation following a review of the report, published last November by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, into the failure of HBOS plc. Following a review of the report by the […]
Read MoreThe founder of the Easy group of companies, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, used his 49% stake in easyHotel, to vote against the company’s directors’ remuneration report leading to a majority opposing the resolution to approve the report at its recent AGM. Votes on the other resolutions were withheld. Haji-Ioannou is the largest shareholder in the Aim-listed company. A statement from […]
Read MoreThe Financial Stability Board (FSB) has announced the members of an industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which will be chaired by Michael Bloomberg. The Task Force was announced last month, as reported by Manifest. The Task Force will develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial disclosures for use by companies in providing information to lenders, insurers, investors and other […]
Read MoreThe board of retailer Next has been forced to call a general shareholder meeting next month after finding a technical infringement of the Companies Act 2006 in respect of the payment of the dividends. The issue relates to the dividends paid in February 2014 and three dividend payouts in 2015. The company said it always had […]
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