….Investors are increasingly strident about pay following criticism that they had been soft on boards and had sanctioned the excessive bonuses blamed for the banking crisis. Voting advisers have highlighted investor concerns about pay at other businesses, including Marks and Spencer and BT, the telecoms company. Manifest, a proxy voting agency, said the vote against […]
Read MoreIn a widely anticipated move, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has moved forward with an aggressive reform program to update the US proxy system. The SEC met today (01/07/09) to approve the New York Stock Exchange’s proposal regarding broker discretionary voting in uncontested director elections (NYSE Rule 452). In addition to the introduction of […]
Read MoreThe Shareholder Communications Coalition sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, April 24, 2009 in response to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal which suggested that the Commission may approve an amendment to New York Stock Exchange Rule 452 at staff level, instead of having the amendment considered by the full […]
Read MoreHong Kong is not generally noted for its progressive corporate governance regime. Critics have argued that its weak regulatory system has long favoured powerful tycoons. However, in a rare and dramatic turn of events, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has won its fight at the Court of Appeal to block PCCW chairman Richard […]
Read MoreAs if proxy fights don’t have enough drama, the New York Times’ DealBook reports that a new fight is brewing between a Pershing Square dissident nominee for a seat on the board at Target Corp. and the company. The nominee, Ronald Gilson, a law professor at Stanford, has proposed the use of a so-called universal […]
Read MoreVoting at Finnish companies is set to get a whole lot easier following an announcement from the Finnish government which will see Finnish company law brought into line with the EU Shareholder Rights Directive. Now that the contents of the Bill have been decided and presented to parliament, the aim is to bring the amendments […]
Read MoreManifest has written to the SEC in support of rule changes designed to eliminate uninstructed broker votes being used at director elections. The New York Stock Exchange had recently filed a request with the SEC to change Rule 452 which allows brokers to use client votes if no instructions have been received. The proposal has […]
Read MoreThe Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management has made a series of proposals to boost transparency among institutional investors and the proxy voting services that advise them. In addition to investor transparency about policy, engagement; voting resources and tactics, the Center is also proposing a code of professional […]
Read More