FRC and FCA target new, rigorous stewardship regime, SRDII implementation begins, ESG resourcing questioned In the latest round of consultations and discussion documents, the UK’s governance and financial markets regulators have laid out their “substantially higher expectations for investor stewardship policy and practice.” Having engaged with 170 members of the investment community, the FRC’s proposed Code […]
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A coalition of at least 74 investors has filed resolutions at 50 US companies asking for more disclosure of payments for lobbying, including to trade associations. The resolutions have been coordinated by Walden Asset Management and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Walden and the AFSCME said the 2018 resolutions had been filed […]
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The chair of the UK’s House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has written to the top 25 pension funds in the UK to ask how they manage climate risks and their potential impact on pension savings as part of its inquiry into green finance. This follows the endorsement by the British government of the Task-Force on […]
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The US investment giant, BlackRock, has stated that is responding to the recent school shooting in the US by engaging with firearms manufacturers and retailers to understand what they are doing to reduce the risk of this kind of event happening again. BlackRock said there are three publicly traded companies in the US whose primary business […]
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There continued to be a focus on executive pay in 2017 by shareholders of FTSE 350 companies data from Manifest for the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) AGM voting review showed. The PLSA stated that the executive pay awards continued to be the most controversial aspect of corporate governance, with the figures of significant remuneration-related […]
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The Investor Agenda, which provides a framework for investors to take action to tackle climate change, has been launched. The plan was developed by seven organisations promoting carbon reduction and responsible investment: Ceres, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative. Ceres recently […]
Read MoreThe EU’s High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance, set up by the European Commission in December 2016, has produced its final recommendations. The Commission has pledged that these proposals will form part of its sustainable finance action plan that will be discussed at a conference in Brussels in March. The HLEG made recommendations across […]
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Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, called for global firms to address the gender gap. Trudeau, highlighted the increasing demands for businesses to play a positive role in society, and agreed that it may be difficult to know where to start but he said employing […]
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Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, has stated his commitment to the role of the global investment giant as a steward for the companies in which it invests in his annual letter to chief executives. As a major index fund investor Fink believes that BlackRock can increase the value of these investments through engagement […]
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The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the findings of a survey of its stakeholders in which many call for more transparency in its internal processes and state that its current enforcement activities are too slow. The FRC said it recognised that it needs to make improvements and accepted that investors wanted the regulator to […]
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