The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has moved a step closer to approving the New York Stock Exchange’s Rule 452 proposal to eliminate broker discretionary voting in director elections. This proposal was developed by the Exchange’s Proxy Working Group in 2006. The NYSE has recently re-filed its proposed amendment to Rule 452 and includes […]
Read MoreThe UK’s FSA has moved swiftly to address the market’s concerns about rights issues timetable problems. Until mid-February 2009 the Listing Rules’ required a 21 day subscription period; this has now been reduced to 10 business days. The new subscription is a minimum subscription period and applies only to non-statutory rights issues (i.e. where the […]
Read MoreThe FSA’s new draft code of remuneration code of practice has put good governance front and centre by insisting that remuneration is tied to effective risk management. The proposed policy is a follow-up to the letters written to the CEOs of FSA authorised companies in October 2008. What is notable about the proposals is that the Governance […]
Read MoreThe US has taken another step forward to bring the US proxy process into line with the rest of the world. Late last week (20/02/2009) the Delaware State Bar Association received a number of proposed amendments from its Corporation Law Section Council members. There are three key proposals on the table: Section 112: Access to […]
Read MoreAs the Madoff and Sanford scandals have highlighted, co-operation between regulatory authorities is a crucial protection mechanism for shareholders. The news that the SEC is pulling away from its committment to work with the EU on audit inspection is therefore especially disappointing. Unlike Canada and Japan who are keen to move forward with mutual recognition […]
Read MoreAs Swiss pharma giant Novartis squared up to the first of the 2009 European season’s shareholder resolutions, it looks like voting irregularities downstream may be calling the results into question. Novartis are said to be ‘furious’ at the apparent foul ups caused by the overly complicated ‘chain of intermediaries’ which have left some shareholders with […]
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