24 February, 2021

Shareholder activism might sound good, but it won’t change much

Relying on shareholders to make corporations more accountable is misguided. There are far more direct and effective measures available.

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In the wake of systemic corporate misconduct scandals such as those brought to light in the Australian Banking Royal Commission, and issues such as income inequality and climate change, there are growing public demands for increased corporate accountability and less emphasis on shareholder returns. Corporate governance reform has become a hot button political issue and big business is feeling nervous. “Social licence to operate” and “trust” are now popular buzzwords in board land. While company annual general meetings (AGMs) have long been the forum for individual vocal and activist shareholders to embarrass boards, large shareh

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Australian corporate governance, corporate accountability, institutional investors, Regulation, shareholder activism