The German Bundestag has adopted the Gesetz zur Angemessenheit der Vorstandsvergütung (Act on the Appropriateness of Management Board Remuneration or VorstAG). The objectives of the new Act are to ensure a greater focus on incentives concerning the company’s long-term development, to make it easier to cut pay when a company’s situation deteriorates while creating clear […]
Read MoreFollowing on from the creation of the SEC’s Investment Advisory Committee, we now have details of its three working sub-committes which will focus on investor education, investor protection, shareholder voting and corporate governance. The SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee is co-chaired by Richard Hisey from AARP Financial and Hye-Won Choi from TIAA-CREF, in consultation with SEC Commissioner […]
Read MoreAlmost one year to the day since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, US federal Judge Jed Rakoff stepped up to protect the interests of shareholders in the on-going battle between owners and regulators. In a scathing judgement, Rakoff has rejected the $33 million settlement between Bank of America and the SEC which aimed to settle allegations that by […]
Read MoreSeptember has been a busy month so far with a number of newspapers and websites picking up our analysis of voting trends around Europe. BBC >> City AM >> Directorship >> De Tijd >> Evening Standard >> Financial News >> Guardian Survey of Executive Pay >> Guardian Editorial >> Wall Street Journal >> Please note that some […]
Read MoreThe Guardian’s annual survey of executive pay has been published, and reveals a 10% increase in basic salary for executives at FTSE 100 companies. Today’s Guardian editorial cites voting data from Manifest noting that dissenting votes on remuneration reports in the year to 31 July was circa 12% while dissent on long-term incentive plans was […]
Read MoreIn a tale of financial engineering and dubious corporate governance standards, the consortium of businessmen behind the collapsed British car company, MG Rover, face being banned as company directors following the publication of a Government report investigating their role in the company’s demise. Former Rover executive John Towers, Rover dealer John Edwards, Peter Beale, a board […]
Read MoreIn a pre-trial debate, AWB has stated that it does not consider “transport fees” paid to a Jordanian transport company, which had close connections to the Iraqi government, to be a bribe. The Age has reported that the pre-trial debate focused on whether the Office of National Assessments was entitled to avoid producing documents to […]
Read MoreThe FSA’s letter to the Institutional Shareholders Committee regarding shareholder engagement was initially welcomed by many commentators although concerns were raised in some quarters at the narrow focus of the letter. In that letter, the FSA stated that they were “aware that concerns have been raised over the extent to which more active shareholder engagement […]
Read MoreLeading US investors and business leaders have joined with government, academia, and labour representatives to endorse a public policy paper published by the Aspen Institute which calls for an end to value-destroying short-termism in the financial markets. The paper, “Overcoming Short-Termism: A Call for a More Responsible Approach to Investment and Business Management,” is the work of […]
Read MoreA regulator’s lot is not a happy one by all accounts. While the UK’s Conservative Party has promised to close the FSA and transfer its duties to the Bank of England if it wins the next election, US regulators at the SEC are having an equally tough time. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspector general, H. […]
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