governance Archives

US Bank Boards after the crisis

A research study by Manifest’s US partners, PROXYGovernance Inc(PGI), reveals some interesting trends about US board governance. PGI’s review of Russell 3000 companies holding their 2009 annual meeting prior to July 1 reveals that boards of financial services …

First there was vote borrowing, now there’s vote buying

The governance world has been concerned about the possible abuses arising from so-called “stock lending”, particularly when it comes to voting rights. Many commentators have suggested that it should really be called “temporary stock selling” to better reflect the legal …

Financial Market Reform: US investors have their say

The 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 …

Calpers sues ratings agencies over sub-prime losses

The California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, is the US’s largest pension fund which provides retirement benefits to 1.6 million public employees. It’s also one of the most active proponents of good corporate governance on both a domestic and …

Sir David Walker’s 39 Steps

Sir 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 …

M&S – qualified victories all round

The LAPFF took their place in the governance history books today. Although they failed to come close to the super-majority needed to have their resolution calling for an independent chair passed, they have achieved a remarkable result. Taking into account …

US Funds go online with voting

Nine 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 …

ProxyGovernance & IRRCi research study on hybrid boards

A new study prepared by Manifest’s US partner, PROXY Governance with sponsorship by the IRRC Institute, “Effectiveness of Hybrid Boards,” analyzes 120 “hybrid boards” formed from 2005 through 2008 to evaluate their effectiveness in two areas: changes in business strategy …

Beware of Global Governance Conformance

The quest for a single set of global governance standards is misguided and investors should stop using global governance standards based on US policy approaches. That’s the conclusion of Lucian Bebchuk and Assaf Hamdani in their latest paper: “The Elusive …

Sunday Telegraph: Anger as top bosses pay keeps rising

FTSE 100 bosses are paying themselves “footballers’ salaries” out of proportion with the rest of the market according to a report from pay consultants MM&K and governance group Manifest.

The increase in total pay for chief executives and senior …