The Japanese government’s proposals to tighten screening of foreign investors may keep the country a little safer—at the cost of undoing several years of hard work in improving the investment climate. If proposals published by the Ministry of Finance this week take effect, foreign shareholders would have to inform regulators when their stake in certain…
Category: international corporate governance
Shareholder Rights Directive II fact sheet – GOV.UK
New guidelines for UK fund managers: Occupational pension schemes are required to document and disclose online their policy on engaging with investee companies, their investment strategy and their arrangements with asset managers. The Pensions Regulator will update their guidance with regards to engagement, investment strategy and asset manager arrangements. Trustees have an important role to…
Labour vows to hold public inquiry into UK financial sector | Financial Times
An incoming Labour government would launch a public inquiry into Britain’s financial industry to “reveal and root out corruption”, under a plan being drawn up by shadow chancellor John McDonnell. He wants to hold a 12-month public inquiry, set up under the 2005 Inquiries Act, to take evidence under oath into misconduct in the financial…
Bill Winters has undermined good corporate governance | Financial Times
The attack on shareholders by Bill Winters, chief executive of Standard Chartered, for opposing remuneration at the recent shareholder meeting was as unwarranted as it was surprising.While it could easily be dismissed as an individual’s ego bruised by the concerted opposition of nearly 40 per cent of proxies cast against his pay, the wider issues…
Japan: One Step Forward on Corporate Governance But More Steps Ahead
The introduction of both a Stewardship Code in 2014 and a Corporate Governance Code a year later in Japan has pushed investors to focus more on the governance standards of the companies they’re invested in and forced companies to make changes – particularly when it comes to appointing independent directors to the board. But accusations…
New UK Rules for Improving shareholder engagement and increasing transparency around stewardship | FCA
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has issued new rules for institutional investor fiduciaries that impose new requirements for engagement and disclosure: We have introduced new requirements to improve shareholder engagement and increase transparency around stewardship. The requirements come into effect on 10 June 2019. Asset managers and life insurers will need to disclose and make…
Standard Life Aberdeen bruised by shareholder pay revolt | Business | The Guardian
The insurer Standard Life Aberdeen has suffered a bruising shareholder revolt over the pay of its new finance chief, with more than two-fifths of investors voting against its remuneration report.At its annual general meeting in Edinburgh, 42% of Standard Life shareholders opposed the report in one of the biggest investor revolts in recent years, but…
Japan Inc ditches takeover defenses amid shareholder criticism – Nikkei Asian Review
More listed Japanese companies are scaling back takeover defenses in response to mounting criticism from investors, who view the measures as protecting management.As of May 21, 342 Japanese companies had anti-takeover measures in place, 44 fewer than at the end of 2018 and a 40% drop from the peak in 2008, according to Recof, a…
Bayer shareholders rebuke CEO over Monsanto deal | Financial Times
Bayer’s supervisory board stood behind its chief executive and top management on Friday in spite of losing a shareholder confidence vote in the fallout from the German pharmaceutical group’s $63bn acquisition of Monsanto and the subsequent drop in its share price. About 55 per cent of shareholders voted against ratifying the actions of the management…
UK MPs’ Proposals On Curbing Excessive Corporate Pay Resonate For Ethics And Society — Dina Medland
On a day in Britain when it feels very much as if everything is broken, there is an important report out from the UK parliament’s business select committee that points to one step forward on repair: the critical need to join up the dots in the debate around the fundamental role of business in society….
