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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Mortgage Choice (ASX:MOC) chairman, Peter Ritchie, has resigned abruptly, raging at proxy advisors for “damaging Australian business” after another bruising shareholder revolt at last week’s AGM. Close to 80% of the Australian firm’s independent shareholders voted against the remuneration report, the third such vote, leading Ritchie to blame the outcome on analysts. The key issues were standard red […]
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Walden Asset Management has added its voice to those criticising the proposed Corporate Governance Reform and Transparency Act of 2016 (HR 5311) passed last month by the US House of Representatives’ Finance Services Committee. In a letter to Jeb Hensarling the chairman and Maxine Waters, a member of the committee the ESG-focused asset manager Walden agreed with other opponents of the bill […]
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Institutional investors in the US are increasingly viewing corporate governance as more than just a compliance exercise but also about an ownership responsibility tied to investment value and risk mitigation, according to Ernst & Young’s (EY) analysis of the 2016 proxy season. Companies meanwhile are responding to investor demands for increased board accountability and transparency by enhancing communications […]
Read MoreThe Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is supporting reforms of the traditional company AGM system. The Australian federal government’s consultation has just ended on proposals to allow electronic forms of communication as the default method of providing shareholders with the notice of meetings and for proxy materials and meeting papers to be accessed on company websites. The […]
Read MoreExecutive pay firm, Semler Brossey, has analysed the relationship between the shareholder support given in elections of remuneration committee members and chairs and the result of the say on pay votes at US company AGMs. The study of director election results between 2014 and 2016 found that over 80% of director elections have received vote support […]
Read MoreThe insurer and institutional investor Legal & General plc (L&G), had to correct its annual report pay figures for chief executive, Nigel Wilson, on the eve of its AGM last week (26th May). L&G, whose investment division LGIM is active in corporate governance issues, admitted that awards from Wilson’s 2012 performance share plan had not been […]
Read MoreUS legislators held a hearing recently (17th May) which considered possible bills which they believe would improve US financial transparency, regulation and capital market formation, including a proposal “To improve the quality of proxy advisory firms for the protection of investors and the U.S. economy, and in the public interest, by fostering accountability, transparency, responsiveness, and […]
Read MoreThe US federation of trade unions, the AFL-CIO, has released its latest Executive Paywatch data which it says shows the average CEO of an S&P 500 company received an annual income of $12.4 million in 2015—335 times more money than the average rank-and-file worker. The AFL-CIO said its figures showed that in 2015 the average production and non-supervisory worker earned about $36,900 per […]
Read MoreChemring Group, a specialist designer and manufacturer for the aerospace, defence and security industries, that was forced to engage with shareholders last year following a high level of dissent at its AGM over its remuneration practices may still not have done enough to meet investor concerns. Last year there was a large 48.02% vote against its […]
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