Walker Archives

Myners calls for stewardship reforms

Lord Myners, the UK Treasury’s Minister for the City has again called for a radical new approach to financial reform – this time it’s investors under the spotlight. In recent months Myners has been no stranger to controversial proposals and during a speech to a conference hosted by UBS, he outlined his concerns about the way corporate […]

Guest Column: FairPensions makes the case for RI

This month’s guest article has been written by Catherine Howarth, CEO of FairPensions. Corporate governance reform isn’t perhaps the most glamorous area of public policy for your ordinary man or woman on the street. Indeed it’s easy to forget how vital it is to the long-term well-being of millions of citizens, particularly those of us with a […]

Collective governance – FSA says “Can Do”

Shareholders wanting to work together on “ad-hoc governance strategies” are unlikely to fall foul of the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA). In a “safe harbour” letter to the Institutional Shareholders’ Committee, the FSA’s Sally Dewar sets out how its rules apply to shareholders wanting to work together to promote effective corporate governance in investee companies. […]

Financial Market Reform: US investors have their say

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, […]

Walker Principles to go global?

The UK Government and Treasury has, perhaps not entirely surprisingly, warmly welcomed Sir David Walker’s proposals for the reform of the corporate governance of UK banks. At the same time, Lord Myners, the Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury has given the market a strong steer on possible next steps for the proposed reforms, including taking them on to a global […]

Sir David Walker’s 39 Steps

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 […]