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…
Category: international corporate governance
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….
‘Nut rage’ fallout: Korean Air chief ousted from board in landmark vote | Reuters
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd shareholders removed chief executive Cho Yang-ho from its board in a landmark vote on Wednesday, making him the first founding family member of any South Korean corporate giant to be forced off a board.The vote, which ended his 27-year tenure on the board of the country’s biggest carrier, adds fresh…
DWP welcomes CMA findings; legislation expected in 2020 – Pensions Age Magazine
UK’s Pension Fund Institute reports on proposed reforms for selecting and evaluating fund managers: The proposed remedies, first published in December, will require pension schemes to run a competitive tender before choosing a fiduciary manager for more than 20 per cent of its assets, in order to drive up standards and decrease costs across the…
Is Huawei’s rise due to its corporate governance style?
Huawei’s unique corporate governance structure includes employee ownership and representation on the board: First, Huawei is a fully employee-owned, private company. All shareholders are employees although not all employees are shareholders. This is a most intriguing aspect. Employees are supposedly hired by the management, and yet they constitute the shareholder body. So there is an…
Aussie Coal Mine Court Ruling Illuminates Reg. Risk in ESG Investing – Institutional Allocator
The decision by an Australian court earlier this month to prohibit the opening of a coal mine because the mine would contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set back the fight against climate change is being characterized by some socially responsible investing specialists as a judicial first in the environmental, social and governance (ESG)…
TriplePundit: ESG Engagement Wins More Boards’ Buy-In, But Lags in U.S.
Boards are facing increasing pressure from stakeholders to engage on ESG (environmental, social and governance) challenges as a matter of long-term viability. But despite all this renewed focus, a new report finds that while 46 percent of boards globally discuss sustainability issues annually, North American boards of directors lag behind their counterparts in Europe and…
