All Corporate governance articles
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NewsFondo Pensione Cometa pushes Microsoft on AI risks at AGM
The pension fund is also in favour of an independent analysis of the reputational and financial risks resulting from Microsoft’s involvement in the military industry
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NewsNBIM to lead class action for first time, joining AP7 against SVB
AP7 reveals it is also leading class action in US against failed Signature Bank
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NewsInvestor coalition calls for phase out of unequal voting rights
It made recommendations to phase out dual-class structures tailored at different financial market participants
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NewsISSB: Scope 3 emissions emerge as key challenge
ISSB’s Transition Implementation Resource Group will aim to understand what challenges constituents are facing and attempt to avoid diversity in practice
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NewsInvestors coalition creates platform to strengthen human rights stewardship
Labour Rights Investor Network demand oversight over labour rights by senior management of investee companies
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NewsIPE Conference: Asset managers urged to implement diversity policies
More diversity on decision-making panels leads to better investment decision and even outperformance of peers
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NewsBpfBouw crowned most sustainable Dutch pension fund
The scheme for the Dutch construction sector has taken the first place from ABP
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NewsMining 2030 Commission gets supports from 82 investors as members named
Among the 82 investors that are backing the initiative are APG in the Netherlands, USS in the UK, US fund CalSTRS and Canadian pension fund CDPQ
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NewsStewardship and engagement hires decline, says Redington
Survey shows that 30% of managers are unable to evidence ESG views driving specific changes in investment portfolios
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NewsNet Zero engagement: asset owners publish rules for managers
The NZAOA asks investors to get engagement programmes assured and to focus on outcomes
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News‘Further work required’ on ESG and sustainable investment funds, says FCA
The regulator expects asset managers to address the good and poor practices outlined in the report to meet the requirements of SDR
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Special ReportColorado fire and police settle with Cognizant
In August 2021, Fire and Police Pension Association Colorado (FPPA), alongside other plaintiffs, reached a settlement with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation for $95m (€88.7m).
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Special ReportUSS settlement with Petrobras and PWC Brazilian subsidiary
In February 2018, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) reached a settlement with PWC’s Brazilian subsidiary as part of a class action lawsuit against Petrobras.
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Special ReportDouble-edged benefits of litigation financing
European pension funds have become familiar with class action litigation, often tying it in with their fiduciary responsibilities as shareholders. Cases against UBS regarding its takeover of Credit Suisse; EY as auditor of fraudulent German payments firm, Wirecard; and Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in March, are the headliners of 2023.
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Opinion PiecesSuper funds voice corporate governance concerns with Australian business
At its recent annual general meeting in Melbourne, Qantas, Australia’s national carrier, was lambasted by irate shareholders over a litany of grievances, not least the role of chairman Richard Goyder and the board over what shareholders saw as the mismanagement of the airline.
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Special ReportEuropean pension fund class actions take off on a steep learning curve
What positive developments can we report relating to class actions in UK and European pension funds? What regulatory challenges still need to be overcome to facilitate (for instance, simplify) the environment for class action by UK and European institutions? Where are the key gaps in knowledge among pension funds?
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Special ReportClass actions: Is Europe catching up with the US?
Europe’s institutional investors are latching on to the rewards of joining class actions against investee companies. Many of these are securities lawsuits, pursued when a publicly listed company has not properly disclosed or has misrepresented significant information, affecting the share price when the truth emerges. But so far, the vast majority of these have been in the US. In 2022, nearly $4.9bn (€4.6bn) was recovered in the US courts, according to Institutional Shareholder Services. So, what about class actions in Europe? “The US has had a class action system for over a hundred years that can be adopted for almost every cause of action, whereas the UK has only had class actions since 2015 and it is only available for competition cases,” says Harry McGowan, partner in the securities litigation department at law firm Stewarts.
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Special ReportShareholder class actions in Europe: the benefits and risks of participating
Litigation outside the United States, and in particular in Europe, has been on the rise since the US Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank. In Morrison, the US Supreme Court ruled that “foreign” (non-US) investors cannot bring federal securities lawsuits in US courts to recover investment losses relating to foreign-issued securities traded on foreign exchanges (known as “F-cubed” claims). As former Justice Antonin Scalia explained, the concern was to prevent the US from becoming “the Shangri-La” of class-action litigation for lawyers representing those allegedly cheated in foreign securities markets. Although federal courts have since struggled to apply Morrison’s effect test consistently, it is clear, more than 10 years later, that the decision has had its intended effect.
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Special ReportManaging risk in securities class actions
Securities class actions (SCA) are a form of collective redress. Shareholders seek compensation for losses suffered as a result of some form of corporate misconduct. They rely upon free market forces, its rules, regulations and factors affecting market price. For professional shareholders such as institutional investors, it is best to look upon any involvement with SCAs as another form of investment yielding a potentially, significant return in future. The duties of any institutional investor – whether as a fiduciary or otherwise – is to focus on what is in the best interests of the fund and its beneficiaries. It does not require the expenditure of more money (or the value of management time) than is likely to be received. What is necessary is the consideration of the issues and the management of risks.
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Special ReportClass actions by European investors on the rise in the name of good governance and fiduciary duty
Deepwater Horizon, Volkswagen (Dieselgate), Wirecard, Silcon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse are recent, high-profile examples of corporate wrong doing resulting in losses for investors. As stewards of retirement savings and guardians of beneficiaries’ interests, it is only natural that pension funds should scrutinise the investments they are making – or outsourcing to asset managers to make – on their members’ behalf. This is a central plank of fiduciary duty.
