Toute l'actualité de l'engagement actionnarial par PhiTrust


Notre impact:
- 1450 initiatives privées
- 120 initiatives publiques
- 27 résolutions externes déposées

Depuis plus de dix ans, nous croyons que l’éthique du management et la gouvernance ont un rôle fondamental au sein des entreprises dans lesquelles nous investissons pour le compte de nos clients.
Face aux défis immenses de la crise que nous vivons aujourd’hui, nous sommes de plus en plus convaincus que nos entreprises cotées en Europe ont besoin d’actionnaires minoritaires actifs qui les aident à développer des stratégies innovantes pour répondre aux enjeux financiers, commerciaux et sociaux de notre monde actuel, et nous essayons d’y contribuer par notre stratégie d’investissement.

28 février 2014

Will the Swiss example reignite the compensation debate?

The Swiss referendum on compensation, or “Minder” Initiative, which was voted in 2013, enters into effect in 2014. Nestlé will be one of the first large Swiss companies to implement the decisions of this referendum, which requires the compensation paid to corporate officers to be submitted to vote at General Meetings. The scope of the Swiss law is extremely broad in the sense that variable compensation can only be paid once shareholders have agreed on the amount; meanwhile, shareholders must also issue an opinion on the maximum compensation amount (fixed, and variable, etc.) that can be paid to a corporate officer. This is what Nestlé will be proposing at its 2014 General Meeting
We would remind you that compensation has been subject to a vote in the United Kingdom for a number of years, and that French limited liability companies and joint stock companies must submit their managing directors’ compensation to their General Meetings. Moreover, the European Commission has announced that it is going to demand a vote on corporate officers’ compensation in Europe, including the amount, the cap, and the multiple of average salary, etc.
It is paradoxical that, following the many discussions on this issue in France, the French-style “Say on Pay” process is not restricted and leaves companies’ choices wide open, on the understanding that a vote in the form of a regulated agreement will be for “information purposes only”, which leaves the Board of Directors free to judge whether it will listen to shareholders in the event of a vote against.
Accordingly, the French government and AFEP-MEDEF have encouraged companies to adhere to the “Say on Pay” process despite the reluctance of some Boards of Directors that did not want to adopt the process, as they now take the view that they will not call the decision in question in any event if shareholders voted against in the form of regulated agreement, as that vote is “for information purposes” only from a legal standpoint.

We must hope that Boards of Directors will be able to present compensation to shareholders in a transparent and clear manner, and that shareholders will respect the decision; otherwise the risk is that the image of our companies’ directors, and therefore the company’s image will be sullied once again, at a time when we need everyone to love companies in order to create jobs and give companies the means to run their business.

Olivier de Guerre
Chairman of PhiTrust Active Investors