South Africa’s PIC pension fund adjusts its corporate governance priorities (emphasis added): More than half of the companies in which the PIC has a substantial investment ignore its views on the need for independent auditors.Almost half of them also ignore its view on what is, or is not, an acceptable remuneration policy, and a substantial…
Category: international corporate governance
Govt compiles guidelines for ESG investments – The Japan News
The government will soon release new guidelines it has compiled to attract ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments from overseas.In ESG investments, investors choose companies based on factors such as the company tackling or having a good record on environmental and social issues, such as efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions, and corporate governance.The guidelines,…
Qatar Stock Exchange Launches Its ESG Platform
Qatar Stock Exchange is pleased to announce the launch of its online ‘Qatar Stock Exchange Sustainability and ESG Platform’. This platform is designed to accelerate the objectives of the QSE Guidance on ESG reporting launched in December 2016 to support listed companies report on key Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators. The online ESG platform allows…
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow Named As One of GPW’s 10 Most “Salutary” Corporate Governance Influences in 2018
We are delighted to announce that our Vice Chair, Nell Minow, has been named by Global Proxy Watch as one of the 10 most important influences on corporate governance in the world this year, along with VEA friends Sophie L’Helias, Christy Wood, and Cindy Fornelli.GPW says:Nell Minow eloquently called out the NAM campaign against shareowner interests through…
Largest ever group of global investors call for more action to meet Paris targets | Environment | The Guardian
The largest ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.The 414 global investors – which represent US$31 trillion of assets-under-management – say they are deeply concerned about the “ambition gap” that exists between governments’ commitments and what is…
Tabcorp lashes ‘caucus’ of investors and proxy firms | afr.com
Sometimes CEOs forget exactly what the underlying principles of capitalism are. Here a CEO lashes out at proxy advisors and shareholders who object to excessive pay. That “opportunity to reflect” that led to “more appropriate pay?” That opportunity was the direct result of a 40 percent vote against. If customers do not like a product,…
Telstra considers executive pay overhaul after investors’ first strike against board | Australia news | The Guardian
We are very intrigued by the provision that a two-times vote against CEO pay has meaningful consequences in Australia. And needless to say, not impressed with the “everyone does it” excuse. Telstra is considering an overhaul of how it calculates executive bonuses after suffering a first strike from shareholders opposed to its remuneration report.More than…
Unilever U-turn shows how angry shareholders are securing change | Financial Times
It took just a few days after Unilever made public its proposal to move its headquarters to the Netherlands for the company to be faced with its first obstacle.Iain Richards, head of responsible investment at Columbia Threadneedle and one of the consumer goods company’s biggest shareholders, lambasted Unilever in a rare public statement in March,…
Gender quotas make an impact in the boardroom
Ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch has been around since 1748, but it recently faced a very contemporary problem. The company was forced to leave a position on its supervisory board vacant for several months, because it was unable to find a qualified female candidate. Franziska Giffey, Germany’s minister of family affairs, said Villeroy & Boch’s…
New crackdown on reckless directors – GOV.UK
New sanctions are available in the UK for directors who are serial offenders. While the vast majority of UK companies are run responsibly, there are a minority of directors who deliberately dodge debts by dissolving companies then starting up a near identical business, with a new name. The practice is known as ‘phoenixing’ or ‘bumping…
