18 March, 2020

Regulators offer guidance on AGMs amid Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing companies to rethink arrangements for their annual general meetings (AGMs) as UK residents come to terms with advice to avoid “mass gatherings”. A partnership o...

28 February, 2020

Company purpose and profit are not mutually exclusive

The past few years have seen a vivid international debate about the purpose of companies and the purport of their directors’ duties towards various stakeholder groups, pursued against the backdrop o...

25 February, 2020

Bank of England economist Andy Haldane enters stakeholder debate

When a central banker talks about an issue, it has for all intents and purposes hit the mainstream. This week, the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane began to talk about the need to shif...

12 February, 2020

Stakeholder debate should not be used to weaken shareholder rights

Relations between investors and boards have reached a low ebb. That was the verdict recently of Andy Griffiths, executive director of the

4 February, 2020

LGIM to vote against combined CEO/chair roles worldwide

Leaders occupying both the chief executive and board chair roles in corporates around the world have been put on notice: Legal...

3 February, 2020

CEO pay and director re-elections named top issues for shareholder dissent

Executive pay and reappointment of directors were the leading issues for shareholder dissent last year, according to new research. Proxy advisers

30 January, 2020

EcoDa: Stakeholder model should not turn boards into “bargaining bodies”

A body representing business directors across Europe has called for a more nuanced viewed of “stakeholder” business models saying boards should not be forced into becoming “bargaining bodies” ...

9 January, 2020

Five myths and five realities about the role of shareholders

In August, the Business Roundtable, led by JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, issued a well-meaning but ultimately confusing statement about

18 November, 2019

The campaign for dual-class listings in London

Are dual-class shares on the agenda for UK stock markets? Some media outlets certainly seem to think so. Indeed, the Financial Times last week reiterated its belief that UK government has ...

7 October, 2019

Active investors bring about better governance, academics confirm

Active investors are piling the pressure on boards and companies to change their ways or improve their governance, but the effects of all that engagement are notoriously difficult to measure. With the...