Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest retail lender and the by-product of the takeover of Sanpaolo IMI by Banca Intesa is an excellent case study of a) how not to construct a post-merger board and b) how not to engage with shareholders and c) why EU shareholder reforms can’t come too quickly. The bank operates what can only […]
Read MoreThe preliminary proxy statement filed by Verizon Communications ahead of their AGM on 6 May has revealed that the former President and Chief Operating Officer, Dennis Strigl, who retired from the company effective 31 December 2009, will receive a separation payment of some $18.5m, to be paid in July 2010. The origin of the payment […]
Read MoreWith shareholder engagement moving ever higher up the (potentially) regulatory and market best practice agenda, voting is likewise coming under the spotlight. In recent days, we have seen the unexpected result of the Infineon AGM provoke concerns about ‘irregularities in the voting process’. Manifest’s own investor conference in Paris in September 2009 demonstrated the importance to investors […]
Read MoreChanges in the Executive Suite Lead to Expensive Consulting Deals Widely seen by analysts as one of the weaker performers in the U.S. meat sector, Tyson Foods, Inc. has its third CEO in as many years. In early 2009, Richard Bond quit after less than three years on the job, and was replaced by former […]
Read MoreEnvironmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors can have a positive impact on portfolio returns, according to a growing body of academic research. In a new report, “Shedding Light on Responsible Investment: Approaches, Returns and Impacts”, investment consultants Mercer summarise and comment on sixteen academic studies, the majority of which (ten) show a positive relationship between […]
Read MoreThe Luxembourg Stock Exchange has published a revised edition of its Ten Principles of Corporate Governance for listed companies. The new code has maintained the original structure of the ten principles by continuing to rely on three sets of rules: principles (“comply”); recommendations (“comply or explain”); and finally guidelines. A copy of the principles is currently […]
Read MoreManifest has welcomed the Financial Reporting Council’s role as the new guardian of an institutional investor Stewardship Code but has proposed that the Code itself should be the subject of its own consultation rather than a simple grandfathering of the existing ISC principles. Proposals for a parallel code for investors to sit alongside the UK […]
Read MoreThe Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) this week (16/03/2010) asked mutual funds to disclose their proxy voting procedures on their websites and in their annual reports with effect from the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Additionally it has asked funds to disclose their actual proxy votes in annual and extraordinary general meetings of investee companies in terms of changes […]
Read MoreHermes, the fund manager owned by British Telecom Pension Scheme, has filed a shareholder countermotion in which it calls for shareholders not to elect Klaus Wucherer as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board but to appoint Willi Berchtold instead. Mr. Wucherer has served on the Supervisory Board since 1999 and hence contributed to its work […]
Read MoreStrewth, our antipodean friends don’t mince their words. Or very specifically, New Zealand’s Business Day blogger, Bruce Sheppard doesn’t. As the Southern proxy season comes to a close (for our research team that is), we’ve been reflecting on the direct and blunt approach the Australian and NZ market observers have been taking. After much deliberation, […]
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