Responsible Investor

RI round-up March 7

RI’s bite-sized round-up of the week’s most important responsible investment stories.

Ethos, the Swiss sustainable investment foundation says it could pursue legal action to force a special audit into risk management at UBS, the Swiss bank. Ethos corralled 45% shareholder support for the proposal at last week’s emergency general meeting over $13.7bn (€9.6bn) losses as a result of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. Dominique Biedermann, Ethos executive director, said. “The Board of Directors of UBS should take the necessary measures in order to restore clients’, employees’ and investors’ confidence as soon as possible.” Swiss Law stipulates that shareholders who hold shares of at least CHF 2m in nominal value have the right to request the conduct of a special audit from a judge.
Peter Montagnon, chairman of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) has warned against regulation to restrict sovereign wealth funds’ investments and urged pension funds and investors to view their emergence as an opportunity for cooperation on responsible investment, reports Thomson Investment Management News.
Montagnon told delegates at a conference in Sweden: “The ICGN would encourage them (sovereign wealth funds) to work together with these institutions to secure value through responsible approaches to share ownership, including dialogue with investee companies on strategy and governance and considered voting at general meetings.” He invited sovereign wealth funds to adhere to the ICGN’s Statement on Shareholder Responsibilities. Last week, the European Commission proposed that EU leaders endorse a common EU approach to increasing the transparency, predictability

and accountability of sovereign wealth funds ahead of its Spring European Council on March 13-14.
Canada’s National Union of Public and General Employees, says it will use the muscle of about C$100 billion (US$101 billion) in affiliated pension assets to challenge what it believes are excessive executive pay packages of chief executives at Canadian companies. Larry Brown, NUPGE national secretary-treasurer, said: “We will be encouraging our trustees to raise this issue with their plan’s investment managers. We are concerned that the compensation for Canada’s CEOs and other top executives has gotten way out of line. Our members’ pension money is invested in these companies, and the amount being diverted to corporate compensation is having a negative effect on the value of their investments.” Canada needs a say-on-pay article
The United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Ecobanking Project
are launching an online database of information about risks faced by financial institutions over environmental and social risks. The database, the Environmental & Social Responsibility Observatory (ESRO), will also highlight financial operations that have embraced the opportunities offered by climate change, water/sanitation, and biodiversity & ecosystem services.
UNEP FI’s E-learning Course on Climate Change will run from three weeks from June 2-23. The course aims to help institutions better understand the basics of climate change and its effects on economic systems,financial sectors, greenhouse-gas markets, carbon finance, cat-bonds and weather: Click here for details
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