It would be fair to say that the importance of shareholder voting has enjoyed an increasingly higher profile in recent years, not least in response to the financial crisis. Just within the UK investment context, initiatives such as the Myners Principles, the Stewardship Code, the 2006 Companies Act, the Hedge Funds Standards Board Code, UCITS […]
Read MoreS&P 500 constituent Monsanto Company yesterday became one of the first US companies to hold its AGM following the introduction of the new US rules requiring an advisory vote on the remuneration of the directors and an advisory vote on the frequency of such a vote. Shareholders did not follow the management recommendation on the […]
Read MoreThere can be little argument with suggestions that the dynamics of the Remuneration Committee are crucial to ensuring a balanced approach on executive pay issues. Indeed there may be value for shareholders in an amendment to the UK Corporate Governance Code in relation to the diversity of the committee. Many of the worst-performing remuneration committees […]
Read MoreIf 2008 was the year of crisis and 2009 the year of survival and steadying the ship, 2010 was the year of longer-term policy response. If one word stands out more than any other from the policy debates of last year, it is “Stewardship”. The word has so many aspects to its meaning, making it […]
Read MoreThe US Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals (SCSGP) has called for the SEC to regulate proxy advisory agencies “to change certain of their current procedures”, in order to “make the processes and methodologies utilized by the proxy advisory firm more transparent, accountable and reliable”. In a letter to the Secretary of the SEC, […]
Read MoreIt was with great sadness that Steve Wallman, founder of ProxyGovernance Inc, let the team at Manifest know that PGI would be closing its doors at the end of the year. Manifest has worked closely with the PGI team since its inception. We knew many of the team from their time at IRRC before its sale […]
Read MoreOne of the questions faced by investors when considering say on pay votes is whether the payout is appropriate. While salary may be easily compared against peers, assessing how appropriate the bonus is may not be so straightforward. To try to get a clearer perspective on such a hot topic, Manifest teamed up with Swiss research organisation, Obermatt, in an […]
Read MoreThe NSW Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the NSW Supreme Court in respect of seven directors who had received bans on serving as directors. The Supreme Court had found that they had breached their duties to the company (James Hardie) in 2001 over a misleading media release about asbestos compensation. The Court […]
Read MoreObscure securities lending practices have been a cause for concern for the governance community in recent years as the ability to recall shares at short notice can negatively impact investors’ ability to vote at general meetings. The US Senate is now adding its weight to worries about the industry and is launching an investigation into the […]
Read MoreThe Swiss Council of States (the upper house of the Swiss Federal Assembly) has discussed an amendment to Swiss company law in an attempt to encourage Thomas Minder to withdraw his proposed referendum to insert provisions on directors pay into the Swiss Constitution. The Council of States has argued that regulations on the remuneration of […]
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