Modern slavery crackdown

Aotearoa New Zealand looks like it’s getting its act together to help crush modern slavery. A group of investment funds and money managers has issued a statement, backing the introduction of new laws that would mandate local companies to launch modern slavery reporting.

The statement says that two bills going through Parliament, one each from the National and Labour parties, provide a “comprehensive, balanced and pragmatic” approach to cracking down on abuses.

“Modern slavery,” the statement adds, “is not only an ethical issue but also a material business and investment risk. Companies connected to forced labour or exploitation face significant reputational harm, brand damage and increasing scrutiny from regulators and the courts.”

The 28 signatories also say the bills would bring the Kiwis up to speed with rest of the world, so: welcome to the club.

US shareholder proposals

Always worth watching the US proxy season to spot the trends.

According to The Conference Board’s governance think tank, this year it seems the number of shareholder proposals dropped significantly and companies filed a record number of “no action requests” to watchdogs, essentially asking for proposals to be killed off.

It now seems like shareholder proposals peaked last year and are back below 2022 levels. Who can say whether this is a sign of the times. Though we probably try.

No class

Another development Stateside after a meeting of watchdogs at the SEC: a vote of 3-1 saw the block lifted on companies using bylaws at IPO to ban shareholder lawsuits.

More newly floated companies will likely have bylaws that mandate arbitration with shareholders instead. As a good deal of US governance is developed through lawsuits, that is a potentially big change. Are US execs avoiding public scrutiny? Senator Elizabeth Warren thinks so. We couldn’t possibly comment.