SWIPRA survey reveals new priorities in corporate governance
Zurich, November 3, 2020 - The 8th SWIPRA Corporate Governance Survey shows important shifts of priorities regarding corporate governance, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) among international market participants. The board of directors and its committees are expected to show more leadership and participate more actively in shareholder engagements and a "private-to-public" dialogue with stakeholders concerning CSR. Investors consider compensation systems not to be sufficiently aligned with social and environmental priorities and judge adjustments to bonus payments due to Covid-19 highly controversial. Investors often try to standardize their assessment of CSR factors by means of environmental and sustainability ratings, although the credibility of such ratings remains rather modest in the market, despite the high level of attention and focus on a few providers. Instead, shareholders should increasingly review CSR information as disclosed by companies and seek a dialogue with them on these topics. Further, the majority of institutional shareholders is prepared to support shareholder resolutions at AGMs, that will become easier in Switzerland following the revision of the stock corporate law, and would like to see a more extensive disclosure by companies on due diligence along their global supply chain. This goes along with a strong desire for the possibility to vote on a company's sustainability report at the AGM. In addition, there is a clear preference for hybrid AGMs in the market. The survey also reveals interesting opinions on further regulatory issues and shareholder rights.
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Previous Surveys
Presentation Survey 2019 - Download
Presentation Survey 2018 - Download
Presentation Survey 2017 - Download
Presentation Survey 2016 - Download
Presentation Survey 2015 - Download
Presentation Survey 2014 - Download
Presentation Survey 2013 - Download