The Wall Street Journal and Financial News have picked up Manifest’s recent article on remuneration report defeats. As highlighted in our posting on the Punch Taverns they joined a select list of five FTSE All Share companies to have seen their remuneration reports defeated. As the article states, getting company owners to vote at the ballot box […]

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In a 4-1 vote, the Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a series of governance reforms designed to “help investors make more informed voting decisions.” As from 28 February 2010 investors will not only know a great deal more about the directors they are electing, they will also have faster access to voting outcomes with the […]

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a major policy reversal on shareholder resolutions which is likely to lead to an increase in ESG risk and succession planning-related proposals. In a legal bulletin published this week, the SEC said that companies could no longer automatically exclude CEO succession planning or ESG risk-related resolutions using […]

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The International Accounting Standards Board has defended its work on harmonising U.S. and international accounting rules into one single standard. In a letter addressed to G20 host, US President, Barack Obama, it outlines that the board has made “substantial progress” on meeting the objectives set out by the G20 at its Washington summit last Autumn. The G20 […]

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Over at CorpGov.net Jim McRitchie is doing his bit to raise some vital issues about the quality of the US proxy system. This time, Jim is airing doubts about the quality of informatiion presented to shareholders on 3rd party voting platforms, more specifically Broadridge, the monopoly US platform. The point he makes is this: SEC […]

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So, it’s 16:22pm the day after after Infineon’s highly contentious AGM. We have the streaming video from the meeting, we have the presentations, we even have a press release announcing the votes “For” the board candidates. But do we have a definitive list of proxy voting results. No. Is the IR department concerned that the […]

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An analysis of company-selected compensation peer groups at S&P 500 companies reveals some clear favorites. 3M Co. tops the list, selected as a peer by 11% of the 374 companies that disclosed in their 2009 annual proxy statements a peer group of up to 35 companies. Six other firms – Johnson & Johnson, General Mills […]

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The US Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, has sent shockwaves through the US corporate governance community and re-awakes concerns that companies will use shareholder funds to influence US political elections. Nearly all restraint on corporate political spending has been lifted by the ruling, prompting the Center for Political Accountability to launch a […]

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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed that it has commenced criminal proceedings against four former directors of iSoft Group Plc. Patrick Cryne, Stephen Graham, Timothy Whiston and John Whelan have been summonsed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on 29 January 2010 to face charges of conspiracy to make misleading statements contrary to […]

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A private Member’s Bill was submitted to the Canadian Parliament this week by Robert Oliphant, MP, calling for amendments to the Pensions Benefits Standards Act, 1985, requiring public and private pension plans to disclose considerations given to environmental, social or governance factors during the selection, retention, or liquidation of investments under the plan’s responsibility. The […]

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