A coalition of at least 74 investors has filed resolutions at 50 US companies asking for more disclosure of payments for lobbying, including to trade associations. The resolutions have been coordinated by Walden Asset Management and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Walden and the AFSCME said the 2018 resolutions had been filed […]
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Guest article by Cliff Weight, NED of Manifest and ShareSoc Yet another board blows up. Why does this happen time and time again? The problem, in my experience, is one of boardroom culture. With some directors being so set in their ways, they are unable to learn from their mistakes. These issues are brilliantly explained by […]
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Data released by the UK government to mark International Women’s Day this week (8th March) revealed record numbers of women are on boards of FTSE 100 companies. These figures show 309 positions – almost 29% – of FTSE100 board positions are held by women, up from 12.5% in 2011. In FTSE 350 companies, the number […]
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The US investment giant, BlackRock, has stated that is responding to the recent school shooting in the US by engaging with firearms manufacturers and retailers to understand what they are doing to reduce the risk of this kind of event happening again. BlackRock said there are three publicly traded companies in the US whose primary business […]
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Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, Hiro Mizuno, chief investment officer of the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund and Brenda Trenowden, global Chair of the 30% Club, opened the market at the London Stock Exchange on Friday (2nd February) as part of an event to mark the growth of its investor group membership. The 30% club which […]
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Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, called for global firms to address the gender gap. Trudeau, highlighted the increasing demands for businesses to play a positive role in society, and agreed that it may be difficult to know where to start but he said employing […]
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The collapse of Carillion raises concerns not only about corporate governance at the firm and KPMG’s audit, but also how the directors were able to get changes to their pay passed the vote. Speaking in The Guardian on Saturday (20-Jan-18), British Prime Minister Theresa May signalled her government’s frustration with the slow pace of change: “Boardroom excesses […]
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The UK government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review 2017, has urged FTSE 350 companies to fill more board and senior leadership positions with talented women with the hope of making the UK a world-leader on gender diversity in business. The review, which was chaired by Sir Philip Hampton and the late Dame Helen Alexander, published its recommendations last […]
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Global investment giant Blackrock has spoken out on share voting rights recently. This has become particularly controversial in the US with tech firms giving their founders’ shares preferential voting rights. For example, Snapchat listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year without giving any voting rights to the shares being floated. Meanwhile, Facebook, […]
Read MorePanellists agreed it was time to reset the governance debate highlighting the need for companies to improve their reporting and “be brave” in their disclosures to investors and other stakeholders at the Manifest seminar held this week. The event was hosted at the Financial Reporting Council and David Styles, its director of corporate governance, welcomed participants […]
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