State representatives, NGOs and UN agencies will be meeting in Paris from next Monday (November 30) for the latest global summit aimed at tackling climate change. In the run up to COP-21, new research is being published by a variety of organisations looking at the  key issues facing policymakers as they seek to agree a […]

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After what has probably been the most exhausting proxy season for investors and issuers alike, the regulatory momentum shows no sign of easing. The new UK Corporate Governance Code goes live for all companies reporting to shareholders on or after 1 October 2014. Regarding the changes, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) CEO Stephen Haddrill commented […]

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If 2008 was the year of crisis and 2009 the year of survival and steadying the ship, 2010 was the year of longer-term policy response. If one word stands out more than any other from the policy debates of last year, it is “Stewardship”. The word has so many aspects to its meaning, making it […]

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A report by the Asset Management Working Group of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative links the integration of ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues into investment processes with legal responsibilities of fiduciaries (including pension trustees, asset managers and investment advisors).  It also calls into question whether the institutional investment industry responsible ownership […]

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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 markets. According to the report, strengthening existing regulatory agencies, closing gaps in the regulatory structure, […]

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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 global stage. The latest target of their ire is the credit rating industry which it […]

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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 find ways of minimising risky behaviour and improving the way companies and shareholder communicate and interact. Many of the […]

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Manifest’s campaign to ensure shareholders at Irish companies have the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the remuneration report gathered momentum over the weekend, with a full page article in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times.  Last month Manifest filed shareholder resolutions at five Irish companies seeking an advisory say-on-pay vote. The Sunday […]

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The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change has called for urgent action to boost the effectiveness of carbon markets and the mitigation of climate change risk in developing countries in their recent report ‘Toward an Effective Global Carbon Market’. The European group, representing over €4tr, identifies the need for strong pricing signals to further encourage […]

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From the self-styled “Wall Street Tabloid” DealBreaker ….in the face of mounting losses and some very poor risk management very few corporate heads have actually been tossed by shareholders. Government, of course, has been more “effective” in this regard. Still, of the vanishingly small pool of shareholder executed CEO defenestrations CEO pay has played a […]

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