France Reduction of Co2 Emissions and ESG

France’s public pension fund Établissement de Retraite additionnelle de la Fonction publique (ERAFP) has updated its voting policy guidelines covering the evaluation of ESG and climate data.

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Regulators warn Covid-19 could delay UK company reporting

Impact of lockdowns could hold up verification of financial accounts Regulators are warning that reporting of annual results for listed companies could be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said in a joint statement on 27 January that listed companies whose financial year ended […]

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Lonmin plc’s major shareholder opposing KPMG’s re-appointment

Audit-related voting dissent still rare When it comes to audit-related voting, shareholders have traditionally paid less attention to audit issues than other governance issues. Using Minerva’s VoteWatch module, this week we’re looking at two topical cases: Lonmin plc and SIG plc. At platinum mining group Lonmin plc’s 2018 AGM 49.2% of the shareholder ballot withheld […]

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How 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 […]

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In the UK legal landscape, the role of the auditor has a particularly important and specific role – not to aid efficient trading markets – but to support the stewardship of the company. With the increased regulatory focus on the role of shareholders in the stewardship process it is particularly apt timing that the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation […]

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Leading international investors have settled terms with the auditors involved in the collapse of Italian diary giant which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. After the firm revealed a multi-billion Euro hold in its accounts, Parmalat became known as “Europe’s Enron”. To settle the claims, Grant Thornton and Deloitte have agreed payments totalling $15m. Documents […]

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