Oil giant Shell is facing a shareholder resolution at its AGM next week (23rd May) calling for it to set and publish targets for reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement goal of reducing global warming to two degrees celsius. The resolution suggests that following the management […]
Read MoreNews of Snap Inc’s pending IPO arrived too late for our usual weekly round-up, but no matter, now that the full implications of the disappearing photo-apps disappearing votes have started to sink in, we can take a moment to reflect on what this really means for investors and good governance. First, a quick update on […]
Read MoreThe Church Investors Group (CIG) has written to all FTSE 350 company secretaries outlining its revised voting policy for 2017 which includes a tough stance on executive pay. The CIG brings together the major church-based institutional investors and with their combined assets of approximately £ 17 billion aims to increase their impact through the joint […]
Read MoreThe UK’s Pension’s and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has advised its pension fund members to act more strongly on executive pay. It is advising funds oppose the re-election of the remuneration committee chair as a company director if they decide as shareholders to vote against a company’s remuneration policy. The PLSA’s voting guidelines for 2017 have been […]
Read MoreUS regulators have responded to concerns that employee pension plans have not been exercising their shareholder rights by issuing updated guidance on proxy voting for 2017. The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) agency said that it is has long believed that it is important for plan administrators to know what their responsibilities […]
Read MoreHuge response to BEIS Select Committee The UK’s Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee has reported a larger than usual response to its request for written submissions to its corporate governance inquiry. Responses by the main industry bodies and interest groups, firms – including Manifest – together with individual submissions from academics […]
Read MoreCanada has introduced a bill aimed at improving its corporate governance framework. An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA), the Canada Cooperatives Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and the Competition Act includes proposals to increase shareholder democracy and participation, support the push to increase women’s board participation, improve corporate transparency and business certainty. Navdeep Bains, Minister of […]
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 MoreDespite public calls for pension funds to vote against WPP’s remuneration report at its AGM this week (8th June) the resolution was passed with 33.5% dissent – higher than 2015’s 22.2% protest vote. ShareAction had condemned the chief executive’s (CEO) Sir Martin Sorrell’s £70m pay packet, which makes him the highest paid CEO in the FTSE 100. The responsible […]
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 […]
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