Any choral singer will be familiar with the concept: a choir singing an acapella section will often naturally go ‘flat and lose pitch’, only to have to painfully re-adjust pitch when the orchestra joins in. Conversely, if the orchestra were to be playing in the wrong key (as a violinist and singer, a cruel but amusing […]
Read MoreThe Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has this week announced The Companies (Shareholders’ Rights) Regulations 2009 (to come into force on August 3rd), signalling completion of the final legislative stage of the European Shareholders’ Rights Directive. The Directive began life as a proposal and consultation by the European Commission back in 2004 and had […]
Read MoreManifest’s annual review of executive remuneration trendshas now been published and has received a positive response from a variety of market commentators including Robert Peston for BBC’s News at 10 and the BBC World Service’s European Business News. This year’s survey has been extended to included pensions data as well as detailed narrative on trends […]
Read More“Voting down Shell’s pay plan sent a chastened company back to consult over revised proposals. It also set a new high-water mark for annual meetings in a year marked by battles about pay across Europe and an increase in No votes. According to Manifest, the proxy voting agency, four UK companies’ remuneration reports have been […]
Read MoreManifest’s campaign to ensure shareholders at Irish companies have the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the remuneration report gathered momentum over the weekend, with a full page article in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. Last month Manifest filed shareholder resolutions at five Irish companies seeking an advisory say-on-pay vote. The Sunday […]
Read MoreThe Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change has called for urgent action to boost the effectiveness of carbon markets and the mitigation of climate change risk in developing countries in their recent report ‘Toward an Effective Global Carbon Market’. The European group, representing over €4tr, identifies the need for strong pricing signals to further encourage […]
Read MoreDid the Lloyds board act with sufficient care on the HBOS deal? Manifest takes a look at the legal aspects of directors’ duties in the context of one of this century’s most politically charged takeovers. The 2006 Companies Act for the first time codified a number of long established common law principles relating to the […]
Read MoreThe dominance of the Big 4 audit firms continues to be a cause for concern according to a report by the UK’s reporting and governance watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council. The FRC has published the third of its Progress Reports outlining the progress of the 15 recommendations made by the Market Participants Group (MPG) in October 2007 […]
Read MoreEuropean Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has gone public with his concerns about role and structure of the International Accounting Standards Board. In his usual direct way McCreevy has pointed out that: “Accounting is now far too important to be left solely to accountants!” Speaking at a recent European Commission’s conference, Financial Reporting in a Changing World, […]
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