Manifest-i - Comment

More competition needed for non-audit work
Richard Northedge, Consultant Editor

October 2005

The inevitable and sensible legal settlement between Equitable Life and its former auditor means the risk of Ernst & Young disappearing and shrinking the Big Four accountancy firms into an even Bigger Three recedes. But even having just four dominant firms is dangerous. More >>

 

FTSE 100 voting turnout hits new record
Head of Research, Manifest Alan Brett

The level of proxy voting by investors at AGMs in the FTSE 100 has risen to 58.8% in the year to 1 September compared with 57.8% in 2004, thus edging closer to the 60% voting turnout level that the government has said it wants investors to aim for. More >>

 

Governance
Companies
Porsche taking stake in VW to ensure stability

German-based proxy voting agent VIP, (association of institutional shareholders) has been among those criticising the decision by Porsche, the luxury car manufacturer, to acquire 20% of the voting stock capital of mass car maker Volkswagen (VW). More >>
Standards & Guidance
OFR needs more recognition in Turnbull guidance

The revised Turnbull Guidance on internal control needs to more adequately reflect the changes that will be brought about by the mandatory Operating and Financial Review (OFR) according to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
More >>
Research
Total pay continues to rise

The increase in total remuneration for UK executive directors rose by the same margin (13%) as for chief executives (CEOs) within the largest companies in the past year, according to the latest total remuneration survey by Manifest, the proxy voting agency, and pay advisors, Independent Remuneration Solutions (IRS). More >>
Activism
Investors call for majority voting in the US

A group of 14 institutional investors and representative bodies from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK have called on the American Bar Association (ABA) to recommend the majority vote standard as the alternative to the current system.
More >>
People
Deutsche Börse reshuffles board

Kurt Viermetz has been appointed chairman of the Deutsche Börse supervisory board, effective from the 10 October board meeting of the Frankfurt exchange. Reto Francioni has been proposed by the personnel committee as the new chief executive and the supervisory board will decide on the appointment at the meeting. More >>

Governance Resources

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Conferences

Topical governance and CSR-related conferences. More >>

Corporate Social Responsibility
International development
Business has role to play fighting poverty

The United Nations and its member governments must recognise the importance of partnerships with business in providing education, health and water sanitation to poor regions of the world, said the World Economic Forum. More >>
Best Practice and Ethics
US business signs up for sustainability plan

The Business Roundtable has set up SEE Change, an initiative to encourage US companies to adopt business strategies and projects that improve society, the environment and the economy.

More >>
Health and Safety
ILO finds poor reporting of accidents at work

Around 2.2m people die of work-related accidents and diseases each year, although this number may be greatly underestimated as a result of poor reporting and coverage systems in many countries, according to a report by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization.

More >>
Environment
Sustainability performance shows improvement

The annual review of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) has seen 57 companies added and 54 deleted from the sustainability benchmark. In the pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index, 25 companies have been added and 29 removed. More  >>

Features
Survey
The Climate Change Challenge

The challenges that climate change present for governments, companies and individuals are enormous but the momentum towards tackling them has been gathering pace. More >>
Sector Review

BP is a striking example of the different images that a firm within the oil and gas sector can have when viewed from the governance and corporate responsibility perspectives. More  >>
Leaders and Laggards
JKX singled out for bad practice

This year SmallCap JKX Oil & Gas came under fire at its AGM (12 May 2005) with Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) deciding to vote against and Standard Life abstaining on certain resolutions. Insight Investment also recommended votes against. More >>

Academic Round up

Manifest-I presents a summary of recently released academic papers on international corporate governance issues. More >>

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