The governmental responses to the financial crisis have been many and varied with markedly different approaches being taken on both sides of the Atlantic. One common strand between the European and US administrations has been the role of institutional shareholders and their use – or otherwise – of voting rights to discipline management. In the […]
Read MoreWhile it is good news to see that Siemens’ shareholders have resolved to put the past firmly behind them, it is interesting to note the priorities of the Siemens’ PR team. In most markets, proxy voting disclosure has reached a high standard enabling analysts to see the turnout trends. A high quality disclosure would typically include the disclosure […]
Read MoreAustralian Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen has delighted Australian shareholders with plans to introduce extensive executive remuneration reforms designed to force boards to be more accountable and give shareholders more power. In a ringing endorsement of the Productivity Commission’s review of executive pay which was published in January this year, […]
Read MoreWhilst the future shape of shareholder engagement responsibility is debated in London, Brussels and across continental Europe, the debate in Dublin is a fierce as anywhere. In what is traditionally a very close-knit investment and business community, the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) and the Deputy Prime Minister participated in a full and frank exchange of views […]
Read MoreThe Investors Working Group, a bi-partisan panel of experts created in February 2009 by the Council of Institutional Investors and the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity, has released its recommendations for reform and modernisation of the US financial markets. According to the report, strengthening existing regulatory agencies, closing gaps in the regulatory structure, […]
Read MoreSir David Walker’s review of the governance of UK banks, commissioned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has published 39 recommendations aimed at improving the governance of banks and other big financial institutions (BOFIs). The aim of the report was to find ways of minimising risky behaviour and improving the way companies and shareholder communicate and interact. Many of the […]
Read MoreAngry shareholder groups are calling on regulators to overhaul rules that mean UK companies can provide dramatically different information to investors in the U.S. and here. Sarah Wilson, chief executive of respected shareholder advisory group Manifest, described it as ‘a system of information arbitrage’, giving superior knowledge to one group of investors over another. At […]
Read MoreNine leading US pension funds have announced that they will be disclosing their voting intentions for shareholder meetings on a new web portal, ProxyDemocracy. AFSCME Employees Pension Plan, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Calvert Investments, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Domini Social Investments, the Florida State Board of Administration, Green Century and Trillium Asset Management are making their individual proxy […]
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