Here at the Manifest blog we try to keep a balance of news and stories for the informed Stewardship community – which includes shareholders and issuers. Today’s piece is addressed directly to the issuer community. It’s a simple message: when it comes to buying vote data, please Just Say “No”. What are we talking about? […]
Read More“The Big Four’s domination of the large firm audit market in the UK is almost complete: in 2010 they audited 99 of the FTSE 100 largest listed firms, which change auditors every 48 years on average. It is clearly an oligopoly with all the attendant concerns about competition, choice, quality and conflict of interest. It […]
Read MoreThe UK’s new default retirement system, NEST, may not have invested a single penny in contributions but when it does, is determined to be a good Steward on behalf of the nation’s investors. At a presentation to launch NEST’s Statement of Investment Principles last week, chairman Lawrence Churchill confirmed that, in addition to offering Ethical […]
Read MoreOver the same weekend that the UN wrestled with the question of whether to intervene in the internal affairs of Libya, the French financial markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), issued a stunning piece of surprise, summary intervention in the proxy advisory market. Having consulted with “the professionals concerned” according to their own […]
Read MoreDebate at the recent meeting of the European Corporate Governance Forum (ECGF) on the subject of related party transactions, ahead of the publication of a statement on the subject, underlined again the problems faced by European companies in effectively communicating with their shareholders on a key strategic issue. On occasions where potential related party transactions […]
Read MoreUS activist investor Guy Wyser-Pratte is turning the heat up under Lagardère and claims to have new evidence proving that last summer’s board seat bid was hit by flawed voting procedures. At stake is Wyser-Pratte’s attempt to shake up management and strategy at the publishing group whose share ownership structure gives CEO Arnaud Lagardère control […]
Read MoreIt is often argued that poor governance structures prepared the ground for the financial crisis. The lack of shareholder engagement in particular is seen to have enabled banks to take on more and more risk. In response, the UK Financial Reporting Council issued the UK Stewardship Code which “aims to enhance the quality of engagement between […]
Read More“Don’t be British, be Australian” is the message from Claire Bury, the EU’s corporate governance official. Speaking at the UK’s National Associate of Pension Funds investment conference in Edinburgh recently, Claire outlined the Commission’s approach to the forthcoming Governance Green Paper which will be launched in April. Not exactly the best timing in the world for […]
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