Belgium has announced an update to its 2004 comply or explain corporate governance code. The new code attempts to deal with some of the issues flagged up by the current economic crisis with a particular emphasis on say on pay disclosures. The proposals include publishing a remuneration policy, detailed information for the earnings of each executive director […]
Read MoreThe Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is urging shareholders to take advantage of the upcoming AGM season to assert their rights and to “not wait until they have been trampled on”. PSE director and co-chair of the recently established corporate governance committe, Jose Luis Javier, said: “The current global financial crisis has put the spotlight on […]
Read MoreVoting at Finnish companies is set to get a whole lot easier following an announcement from the Finnish government which will see Finnish company law brought into line with the EU Shareholder Rights Directive. Now that the contents of the Bill have been decided and presented to parliament, the aim is to bring the amendments […]
Read MoreUS Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s recently announced proposals for US recovery have attracted extreme criticism in many quarters for failing to address the issue of Fair Value Accounting. Alex Pollock of the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute and a long-standing critic of mark-to-market accounting rules sees a missed opportunity for a more radical overhaul, as outlined in a recent […]
Read MoreManifest has written to the SEC in support of rule changes designed to eliminate uninstructed broker votes being used at director elections. The New York Stock Exchange had recently filed a request with the SEC to change Rule 452 which allows brokers to use client votes if no instructions have been received. The proposal has […]
Read MoreThe UK’s audit watchdog, the Auditing Practices Board (APB) has issued its latest consultation paper with a view to updating its ethical guidelines on the vexed issue issue of auditor consultancy services. In the UK regulatory construct, the audit is produced for the benefit of shareholders and consulting for the benefit of management. Investors have long […]
Read MoreThe European Commision has commissioned a €350,000 research study to assess the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms concerning Member States’ corporate governance codes. Four researcb partners have been selected to underake the review: BUSINESSEUROPE (the Confederation of European Business); RiskMetrics Group; ecoDa (the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations) and Landwell & Associés, a European law firm. According to […]
Read MoreThe financial crisis has revealed severe shortcomings in corporate governance. When most needed, they often failed to provide the checks and balances that companies need in order to cultivate sound business practices. That’s the conclusion from the OECD’s latest report: Corporate Governance Lessons from the Financial Crisis. On March 18th 2009 the OECD will meet in […]
Read MoreU.S. judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, has ruled that two lawsuits brought by Parmalat Finanziaria SpA bond and share holders and Parmalat SpA CEO Enrico Bondi, can proceed against auditing firm Grant Thornton International in relation to the collapse of Parmalat Finanziaria in 2003. Speaking in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New […]
Read More