The 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, […]
Read MoreLinking bonuses to the granting of shares or options seems a good idea . . . … but it is not as simple as that and Britain’s businesses can see the pitfalls that many others cannot. Jamie Stevenson of University of Exeter Business School writes in the Times and discusses the problems of executive incentives. […]
Read MoreNorges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the investment arm of the Norwegian central bank and asset manager for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund and the Government Petroleum Insurance Fund managing over NOK1,000bn (£107bn) in equity investments, has filed shareholder proposals at four US companies calling for independent chairmanship. Meetings at Harris Corporation (23rd OCtober), Parker Hannifin (28th October), […]
Read MoreUBS shareholders now have six months to decide whether to file actions against the board after voting down the 2007 director liability discharge resolution. A total of 52.8% of shareholders voted against the discharge for 2007 with 46% in support. Discharges for 2008 and 2009 managed to achieve 80% support. “We are accepting this vote and view it […]
Read MoreFollowing the December 2009 announcement MAN SE’s acceptance of the two administrative orders issued imposing fines on certain subsidiaries, and the closure of the internal investigations into the matter, attention now turns to the Group’s AGM on 1 April. The meeting documents note that: Based on the status of the special investigation commissioned by the […]
Read MoreLack of board independence may make UK investment trusts targets for activist shareholders according to Simon Westlake at City of London Investment Group, a big activist investor in emerging market investment trusts. “Some boards have been too much in the pocket of the managers and the managers see discount control as a threat as it means […]
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