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 Manifest-I - Comment
Investors must be more transparent
Richard Northedge, Consultant Editor
May 2005
It was a Cadbury chairman that
started the corporate governance debate in 1991 so it is appropriate that the
confectioner’s current chairman, John Sunderland should be moving the discussion
forward now. There are codes of practice in place to constrain quoted companies:
the weakness now is with the investors. More >>
Is proxy access the end of capitalism?
Alan G. Hevesi New York State Comptroller provides a view
from the US
What is so dangerous about shareholders having a small and extremely limited say
in who sits on the board of directors of the companies they own?
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Governance News
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Investor relations conference
Sunderland hits out at financial sector
The UK development of the Combined Code has led to high
levels of corporate governance and transparency in the corporate sector, but the
same standards are not present in all the dealings of the financial markets,
according to John Sunderland, chairman of Cadbury Schweppes.
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Total remuneration survey
Long-term trend of executive pay rises continues
The long-term trend of ever increasing directors'
salaries and total remuneration continued in 2004 according to the Executive
Directors Total Remuneration Survey 2005 by executive pay consultancy,
Independent Remuneration Solutions (IRS) and Manifest.
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MG Rover
Car makers collapse highlights pay concerns
The collapse of car manufacturer, MG Rover, and the
mass redundancies of its staff reignited the controversy of the pay of the
directors of Phoenix Venture Holdings (PVH) which took over the company
five years ago. More >> |
Jardine Lloyd Thompson
Manifest analysis causes EGM
Conscientious analysis by Manifest led FTSE 250
company, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT), to convene an EGM immediately after
its AGM on 28 April.
More >> |
IFRS
EU and US work together to converge standards
In a recent meeting William Donaldson,
chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Charlie
McCreevy, EU internal market commissioner, discussed the importance of
compatible approaches to further investor protection and expanding the use of
global accounting standards.
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American International Group
New allegations emerge at insurance firm
Eliot Spitzer, New York State attorney general, and
Howard Mills, insurance superintendent, have ordered a new probe into the
accounting of American International Group (AIG) after allegations of improper
booking of workers’ compensation premiums has emerged as part of their broad
investigation of the company.
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Sempra Energy
AGM held thousands of miles from company HQ
Sempra Energy,
the S&P 500 US utilities company, held its AGM in London last month
despite being based in San Diego, California. No internet or video link
was provided for US investors.
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Nestlé
Strong backing for shareholder motion
A shareholder resolution proposed by
Swiss institutional investor group, Ethos, aimed at stopping the chief executive
of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, also becoming chairman was defeated at the
food company's recent AGM. However, 35.94% of the votes supported the motion.
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SEC
Section 404 implementation considered
A roundtable
discussion on the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
revealed that many companies have experienced benefits and improvements to their
internal controls as a result, according to William Donaldson, chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
More >>
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Deutsche Börse
Stock exchange tries to win round shareholders
Deutsche Börse has announced a shareholder value
enhancement programme which it said will involve improvements in its corporate
governance as well as more purchases of its own shares and the distribution of
more funds to shareholders.
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Split-capital
investment trusts
Investors invited to apply for compensation
Fund Distribution
Limited (FDL), the company set up to distribute compensation to investors which
lost money from split-capital investment trusts, has begun sending out mailing
application forms to those potentially eligible to receive money from the fund
accumulated from settlements with investment managers. More >> |
EU shareholder rights
Broad support for Commission plans
There was broad support for the European Commission’s consultation on its
proposals for shareholder rights according to its report providing a synthesis
of the results of the consultation. There were 146 responses from 20 countries
to the consultation launched last September on the Commission’s plans to
increase the rights of investors holding stakes in companies outside their home
country. More >>
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Fannie Mae
Mortgage provider recognises reforms required
The vice chairman
and interim chief executive of Fannie Mae, Dan Mudd, has acknowledged that the
US mortgage provider has not complied with generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP) and said the company understands it has disappointed a lot of
people. More >>
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Institute of Internal Auditors
Demand grows for internal auditors
More stringent
corporate governance requirements have led to the demand for internal
reaching a high, according to The Institute of Internal Auditors – UK and
Ireland’s (IIA) Fighting Fit: Employment Survey 2005.
More >>
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FSA enforcement review
BBA warns against American approach
The British Bankers’
Association (BBA), has warned the Financial Services Authority (FSA) against
adopting an "American" style of enforcement despite media and external
pressures.
More >>
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UK General Election
Conservatives pledge to stop mandatory OFR
The Conservative Party reiterated its plans to halt the
implementation of the statutory operating and financial review (OFR) in its
business manifesto for this month's general election. According to the
Conservatives the OFR would extend directors’ liability and increased regulatory
burdens on quoted companies.
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Governance in brief.....
Reckitt's Becht ranks as
highest paid so far
Bart Becht, chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturer and
distributor of household cleaning products, has a face value remuneration
package of £22.16m, the highest Manifest has noted in the UK this year.
More >> |
Governance Resources
Looking for Governance books? See the Manifest Bookshop
Click Here >> for more details.
Conferences
Topical governance and CSR-related conferences.
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Corporate Social Responsibility
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British American Tobacco
Plessis attacks NGO tactics
Jan du Plessis, chairman of British American Tobacco
(BAT), has criticised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which attack
multinational companies yet refuse to engage constructively with business for
progress.
More >> |
Nike
Full disclosure of supplier details provided
Nike has published its first corporate responsibility
(CR) report since its decision to stop reporting in October 2002. It was then
fighting a lawsuit against it which was settled in 2003.
More >> |
Mercer Investment Consulting
Fund managers predict SRI will be mainstream
The majority of investment managers globally believe
that socially responsible investing (SRI) will become an accepted part of
mainstream investment processes, according to a survey by Mercer Investment
Consulting (Mercer IC).
More >> |
Assurance Standards
Briefing advocates use of two standards
The International Standard on Assurance Engagements
(ISAE3000) and the AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS) are complementary rather
than being in conflict or a substitute for each other according to a briefing by
AccountAbility and KPMG Sustainability.
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Gender pay gap
MPs find mixed views on pay audits
The House of Commons Trade and Industry Select
Committee’s report Jobs for the girls: The effect of occupational segregation on
the gender pay gap should prompt the government and employers into action
according to Brendan Barber, Trades Union Congress general secretary.
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CSR in brief.....
NAPF sets out
approach to CSR Christine Farnish, chief executive of the National Association of
Pension Funds (NAPF), has set out the NAPF’s emerging policy on socially
responsible investment and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a speech at
the UK Social Investment Forum 2005 Annual Lecture.
More >> |
Academic Roundup
Manifest-I presents a summary of recently released academic papers on international corporate governance issues.
More >>
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