The European Commission has been busily working on responsible investment issues in recent weeks, culminating in two documents: A consultation on “Disclosure of Non-Financial Information by Companies” and a summary of responses to their green paper on corporate governance in financial institutions (see later blog piece). The consultation asks a number of very open questions […]
Read MoreManifest and strategic partners GES Investment this week submitted their joint Stewardship Code disclosure to the UK’s Financial Reporting Council. Here is the full text of our Stewardship Code Disclosure, together with a PDF copy:
Read MoreThe UK has offered a new template for global governance with the introduction of the first formal code of conduct for investors. Under the watchful eye of the Financial Reporting Council, it is hoped that the Stewardship code will, as Chairman Baroness Hogg said: “be a catalyst for better engagement between shareholders and companies and create a […]
Read MoreAs the consultation on the UK’s Stewardship Code draws to a close, the UK’s reporting regulator, the FRC, has moved to strengthen its secretariat with the appointment of ABI governance veteran, Peter Montagnon. Montagnon will join his former ABI boss Stephen Haddrill, on June 1st. FRC chairman Christopher Hogg said that Montagnon’s appointment would: “significantly enhance the FRC’s […]
Read MoreThe UK Government has asked the Financial Reporting Council to consider including a new principle in its code of conduct (UK Corporate Governance Code) to require companies to report on what they’re doing to increase the number of women in senior management positions. Under proposals announced by The Equalities Office, companies may be required to […]
Read MoreDespite tumbling stock market valuations the impact of overseas shareholders in the UK stock market is greater than ever. This could have far reaching implications for the UK government’s attempt to beef up corporate governance. According to figures released this week by the Office of National Statistics, non resident shareholders now account for 41.5% of UK […]
Read MoreShareholders don’t like it, nor do the regulators. It’s expressively forbidden to be included in appraisals. Unfortunately, evidence uncovered by the Financial Reporting Council’s Audit Inspection Unit (AIU) shows that the controversial practice of selling non-audit services to audit clients is alive and well, threatening the independence of audits. At Deloitte audit directors and managers are […]
Read MoreHow much more work should auditors do for quoted companies? How comfortable are shareholders with the potential for further dilution of the independence of the annual audit? We don’t have the answers immediately to hand, but responses to the Federation of European Accountants’ (FEE) latest discussion paper on the potential role of auditor’s assurance in respect of […]
Read MoreBy: Geoffrey Mazullo, Director, Partners for Financial Stability Program In August 2001 the PFS Program launched its first regional survey, “Investor Relations Online: Survey of Websites of the Ten Largest Listed Companies (by market capitalization) in Eight Central and Eastern European [CEE] Countries” in response to requests from stock exchanges in several CEE countries to […]
Read MoreAn independent report commissioned by the European Commission has concluded that the differences between US and international audit standards are “negligible”. The study, prepared by the Maastricht Accounting, Auditing and Information Management Research Center (MARC), evaluated the differences between International Standards in Auditing (ISAs) and the standards of the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). ISAs […]
Read More