Research & White Papers

This report highlights trends identified during the second half of 2011 with many companies continuing to adapt to the new legislative environment introduced by the Companies Act 2008, which finally came into force in May and the King III code of best practice.

During the Korean proxy season, companies likely will seek approval for income allocation authority and other article amendments.
 

This white paper traces the evolution, since the mid-1990s, of the role of securities class action in the evolution of institutional shareholder activism. Institutional investors have achieved a variety of sometimes far-reaching governance reforms that would have been otherwise impossible to achieve through more traditional means. Reforms have included increasing board openness and disclosure, election of directors, term limits for directors, shareholder participation in director nominations, outside auditing policies, executive compensation, stock option terms and many others.

For the past eight years, ISS has sought feedback on emerging corporate governance issues as a critical component of its annual policy formulation process.  Through its annual policy survey, ISS seeks input from both its institutional investor clients and the corporate issuer community, in order to gain a better understanding of the breadth of financial market views on a range of topics including boards of directors, shareholder rights, and executive compensation/remuneration.

Under new regulations, South African companies will be required to form social and ethics committees to monitor social and economic development activities and their approach to "good corporate citizenship."