Vinit Bolinjkar, Head of Research, Ventura Securities, said it is high time that companies start recognising the rights of minority shareholders. The rights of minority shareholders need to be protected by independent directors but the problem currently is that many of them act on behalf of the promoters. Deepak Sanchety, Ex-Head of Surveillance, SEBI, said…
Category: international corporate governance
ICGN Governance Principles Updates: Evolution of corporate governance in the face of existential change | Ethical Boardroom
Key governance changes: We have emphasised the importance of independent board leadership and a clear division of responsibilities between the role of the chair and CEO to avoid unfettered powers of decision-making. We also think the roles of both should be clearly described and publicly disclosed as well as the role of the lead independent…
A crucial change is needed to improve corporate governance in Japan | Financial Times
Ever since Japan brought in codes of conduct for companies and shareholders, three words have echoed around the corporate landscape — “engagement”, “taiwa” (discussion) and “stewardship.” Japan set forth its first stewardship code for investors in 2014, and its first corporate governance code in 2015. At the time, I argued that a code for companies…
Reloading Ukraine’s corporate governance reforms – Atlantic Council
Corporate governance reform at Ukrainian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has reemerged as a national priority since April 2021 following management changes at energy giant Naftogaz. Tellingly, at the July 2021 Ukraine Reform Conference in Vilnius, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken named a new law on SOE corporate governance as one of Ukraine’s top five priorities….
UN steps up corporate human rights expectations – Minerva-Manifest
The names of some banks and investment funds have been included in an internationally recognised document compiled to help clamp down on private-sector human rights abuses. A just-released third draft of the United Nations (UN) Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights is being negotiated by the open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) under the…
Top chief execs ‘paid more in a year than a UK worker gets in a lifetime’ | Executive pay and bonuses | The Guardian
The annual pay of FTSE 100 chief executives fell during the pandemic but still equates to what a key worker would earn in a lifetime, according to a report that highlights the UK’s wage divide and the taxpayer support that has kept some companies afloat. The bosses of companies in the blue-chip share index were…
Australia: CEOs take record hit on bonuses
Bonuses of blue-chip company bosses took the biggest hit on record last year, with nearly a third of ASX 100 CEOs receiving no annual boost to their base salary. Some 31 ASX 100 chiefs received no annual bonus in 2020, double the number from the year before. Among them were those running businesses savaged by…
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son grilled by investors over governance lapses | Financial Times
Masayoshi Son has told shareholders that SoftBank will not prioritise short-term trading gains as the company behind the world’s most aggressive technology fund was grilled over governance failures after the collapses of Greensill and Katerra. At an annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, the 63-year-old billionaire founder defended the Japanese conglomerate’s governance structure, saying the board…
Toshiba In Chaos After Bid to Foil Activist Shareholders – The New York Times
Last year, when a little-known investment firm called for some new blood on the board of the faded Japanese industrial giant Toshiba, the company’s leadership was less than receptive. But rather than taking its case to its shareholders, Toshiba tried to foil the problem investors by making a secret request to Japan’s powerful trade ministry:…
Global Compact Calls on Sustainable Businesses to Combat Authoritarianism in the U.S.
Thousands of U.S. companies have signed onto the United Nations Global Compact, which calls upon sustainable businesses to “create the world we want.” That goal is running up hard against the authoritarian trend in national politics. With the Compact slated to meet later this week, it is incumbent upon U.S. business leaders to act in…
