19 June, 2020

Norges Bank issues warning over shareholder proposals

Norges Bank Investment Management, the investment vehicle for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, has issued new voting guidance warning other investors that shareholder proposals should not ...

9 June, 2020

US public backs shift to stakeholder capitalism amid Covid-19

Capitalism is at a crossroads in the US, with almost nine out of ten people wanting large corporates to concentrate on serving their workers, customers, communities and the environment, according to n...

22 May, 2020

FRC urges companies to provide ‘full disclosure’ of survival prospects

UK companies are under notice to be transparent about their prospects for survival as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. The warning comes from the

13 May, 2020

LGIM to vote against ExxonMobil chair over climate concerns

If there is one company that attracts the ire of those concerned with protecting the environment it is the world’s second largest oil company, ExxonMobil. The company’s history is not only one of ...

21 April, 2020

Government bail-outs indicate ‘shift in mindset’ towards societal purpose

Denmark’s recent statements on bail-outs for companies illustrates a trend seen widely at the moment: if companies want state aid they have to do right by the societies in which they do business. ...

20 April, 2020

Will Covid-19 accelerate the shift towards stakeholder governance?

Prior to the last financial crisis, the shareholder primacy model of corporate governance was unchallenged. Companies were run solely to the benefit of shareholders, with share price performance being...

14 April, 2020

Warnings over risk of investor activism as boards focus on survival

As if boards didn’t have enough to do managing their companies in the midst of global pandemic, now they must contend with warnings of increased attention from activist investors. Attention has g...

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...