The simple but powerful statement of solidarity with the notion of a free society that articulated the public reaction to the recent horrific events at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris shows just how important freedom is in our …

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The SEC this week weighed into the proxy advisor debate with Staff Legal Bulletin 20, which provides information on  the proxy voting responsibilities of investment advisers (i.e. professional investors) as well as clarification on the exemptions from federal regulation …

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The European Commission has published its formal proposal for the much-leaked update to the 2007 Shareholder’s Rights Directive. It forms a part of the “road map” for the Commission’s 2012 company law and corporate governance action plan which is …

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The Swiss Federal Council recently published their “Proposal for an Ordinance against abusive remuneration practices” in response to the successful popular referendum on what has been dubbed the “Minder Initiative”.  It is the first formal consultation stage ahead …

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It’s being quite a few days for corporate governance. First, the unprecedented (at least since our records began in 1996) shock yesterday of Sir John Bond’s ejection as Chair of Glencore Xstrata, whilst in the same week, the PR chicanery …

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Perhaps the two least surprising observations about last week’s local government elections in the UK were the weakness of the incumbent national government party vote, and the continued fall in turnout. If there’s one thing you can rely on, it’s …

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The upcoming AGM of Deutsche Bank AG is looming large in many shareholders minds now. With the long running succession planning debate at the company leading some proxy advisors to publicly recommend opposition to ratification of the supervisory board acts, …

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The AMF, the French equivalent of the FSA, has finally published an English language version of its February 7th report on the conduct of General Meetings at French listed companies.

The report deals with the four broad themes of dialogue …

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It would be fair to say that the importance of shareholder voting has enjoyed an increasingly higher profile in recent years, not least in response to the financial crisis. Just within the UK investment context, initiatives such as the Myners …

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French Company Law now has  a further measure which French companies can use to block dissident shareholders from using their influence at general meetings of shareholders. On 8 December 2010, the French President signed into law an an amendment to …

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