Four billion reasons not to fix the proxy plumbing Can the SEC resist the lobbying deluge and restore essential share ownership rights? Since the GFC, regulators have been working to make markets and economies safer. Part of that process has been to encourage market disruption by fostering better competition and increasing diversity. Now it’s time […]
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Unilever: Votes and Voices Proxy plumbing adds complexity to hotly-contested simplification plan The proposed Unilever vote in October is raising City eyebrows. When the CIO of a UK insurer takes to the pages of the financial media voicing concerns over a voting issue you know it’s serious. David Cumming, head of equities at Aviva Investors, […]
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In a recent article in the Sunday Times British entrepreneur, Paul Johnson criticised the voting recommendations made by proxy voting advisers – including the recent advice that he be removed from the board of Aim-listed hotel chain, Elegant. But Micheal Deakin, Manifest chairman has highlighted that the UK has set a better example of shareholder voting […]
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The Investment Association (IA), which represents the UK’s asset management industry, has launched its public register of listed companies which have had significant shareholder rebellions. The IA proposed its development in its response to the government’s green paper on corporate governance in 2016 and was asked to go ahead with the launch of the government’s […]
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A consultation has been launched seeking views from investors and companies on whether the Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research and Analysis have been effective in ensuring the integrity and efficiency of the services provided by proxy advisers. Earlier this year the charter signatories to the Best Practice Principles (the BPP group), which includes Manifest, […]
Read MoreThe charter signatories to the Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research & Analysis (the BPP Group), which includes Manifest, will review its principles by the end of 2017 following a public consultation overseen by Chris Hodge, the new independent chairman of the BPP Group’s review committee. The update will include addressing the transparency requirements for proxy […]
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The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has argued that it needs more powers to take enforcement action against directors so that it can investigate and prosecute all directors for financial reporting breaches and associated issues of integrity, rather than only accountants and actuaries as at present in its response to the government’s green paper on corporate […]
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The Church Investors Group (CIG) has written to all FTSE 350 company secretaries outlining its revised voting policy for 2017 which includes a tough stance on executive pay. The CIG brings together the major church-based institutional investors and with their combined assets of approximately £ 17 billion aims to increase their impact through the joint […]
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As US Republicans accelerate their plans to dismantle much of the Dodd Frank regulatory framework, Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase, has been appointed as the next chairman of the US issuer lobby, Business Roundtable (BRT). BRT’s members are the chief executives of the largest American companies; together with the US […]
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In a move to improve shareholder democracy the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed that universal proxy cards be introduced that allow investors to vote for directors as they would if they attended the company’s annual general meeting. However, one of the Commissioner, Michael Piwowar, has expressed his opposition to the proposal claiming that the […]
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