Fourteen companies in the US S&P 500 have agreed to repeal their classified board status thanks to the joint engagement efforts of The State Board of Administration of Florida (the “SBA”), the investment manager of the Florida Retirement System, the …

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Short-dated EGMs – don’t ban them, fix the voting

Pity poor Hammerson plc who last week became the first FTSE 100 company  in many years to lose a routine resolution because it failed to achieve the necessary majority. We say …

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Procedures for voting at the upcoming AGM of Volkswagen AG have raised a few eyebrows at Manifest today (Tuesday 12th April).

Unashamedly putting the Shareholders’ Rights Directive (SRD) record back on the record player, and turning the volume up to …

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The European Commission released the eagerly-awaited Green Paper on Corporate Governance this week. It follows on from the Green Paper in June 2010 on Corporate Governance in Financial Institutions, as a result of a strong response pointing out that many …

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Just Say NoHere 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 …

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“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 …

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The 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

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Over 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 …

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Debate 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 …

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The long-running spat between Swiss pharmaceutical company Actelion and major shareholder Elliott Advisors comes to a head at the forthcoming GM on the 5th May. Which gives us a timely opportunity to revist some of the problems shareholders face …

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