Categoria: International update

19/03/2016 
Main topics:

– Call for evidence: EU regulatory framework for financial services
– Shareholders’ Rights Directive
– The implementation of the audit reform
– Digitalisation and company law
– Workers representation on board level in Europe : Draft Initiative Report issued by the EMPL Committee at the European Parliament

11/02/2016

ecoDa’s new Report on Comply or Explain practices in the EU

A pan-European report has been launched today offering an overview of the approaches adopted at national level in terms of the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of Corporate Governance Codes.

The Report has been produced by the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) in collaboration with Mazars and with the support of both the European Corporate Governance Codes Network (ECGCN) and the European Commission.

By opting for the “Comply or Explain” principle, the European Commission has explicitly made the choice for flexibility. Flexibility was seen as the condition to guarantee that companies have their governance tailored to their specific needs.

With this report, ecoDa wants to foster the respect of the 2014 EU recommendation, stimulating qualitative governance reporting. It is in the interest of the European Commission and of listed companies to get a more coordinated understanding and application of the code concept throughout the European Union.

The Report concludes that when combining the differences in the structure of the governance codes with the different approaches to disclosure in the governance statements, it is difficult to make comparisons of compliance ratio’s across Europe. The Report highlights some best practices for objective and efficient monitoring. The Report makes it clear that peer pressure and a credible monitoring regime are crucial for the survival of self-regulation.

This Report is the first part of a triple project; the second part will be dedicated to the board’s role in designing an effective framework of corporate governance while the third part will look more fully into the vision of shareholders as regards compliance with governance codes and recommendations.

Lutgart Van den Berghe, Chair of the ecoDa Policy Committee, Executive Director of Guberna said: “One of the challenging questions is whether monitoring not only leads to more companies complying but whether it also leads to companies doing the right things? Hopefully the Report will foster a better respect for flexibility and rehabilitate the route of explanations”.

David Herbinet, Mazars, Partner, said: “Establishing a change in governance culture to promote the use of the ‘comply or explain’ concept’s flexibility rather than ‘box ticking’ is essential”.

EU Alert for Week 41 includes two topics:

– The just published Action Plan on Capital Market Union
– A call for evidence on the cumulative impact of financial legislation.

ecoDa week alert Nr. 39. The EU Action Plan on Capital Market Union will be published next week. Corporate Governance will not  be  addressed  in the Action Plan  but the European Commission might come back with related proposals in 2017.

ecoDa week alerts March-May 2015 on Shareholders Rights Directive and others..

European competitiveness is being challenged both by emerging markets and by traditional competitors, such as the US. The deep and wide European recession resulting from the financial crisis has exposed the economic vulnerability of Europe. The need for concerted actions from the European business community, European governments and not the least the EU institutions has never  before been more pronounced.
Regulations and laws cannot solve the fundamental problem behind European competitiveness: the ability of European companies to stay competitive in a globalized world. On the contrary, lawmakers must design a legal framework that supports the sustainability and the competitiveness of European companies.
A key question is the level of professionalism governing European companies. Do the Boards of Directors of European listed and non-listed companies have the professionalism needed to advance European competitiveness in a sustainable way?  ecoDa chose the subject of “The professionalism of directors- Key to European Competitiveness?” to celebrate its 10 th anniversary.
This conference was  the last one in a series of ecoDa 10th Anniversary conferences.  It  started in Stockholm last June, moved to Ljubljana during the fall and is now finishing off in Brussels.

The project conference was divided into four parts:
– “The Professionalism of directors: Directors that deliver”,
– “Challenging discussion: The importance of economic intelligence for boardrooms”,
– “The Professionalism of Directors: Directors that are well selected”,
– “The Professionalism of Directors: Challenges for the 10 coming years”.

26/10/2015 
EU Alert for Week 43

1) The Financial Reporting Council has published more information about its project on corporate culture and boards.

2) An upcoming consultation following the non-financial reporting directive October 2015

3) An upcoming consultation on responsible investment October 2015

4) Gender Diversity in Boardrooms

5) 2016 Work programme for the European Commission

6) New surveys from the ECON Committee – European Parliament October 2015

7) News from ecoDa

ecoDa week alerts February-May 2015 on Shareholders Rights Directive and others

Week alert 2 includes:

1. The draft report of the JURI Committee on the shareholders’ rights directive.
2. The comments of the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership following the study on  “The Promotion of Employee Ownership and Participation”.

Week alert 3 includes:

1. Shareholders’ Rights Directive: Amendments to the ECON Committee draft report (see attached the full document)
2. Women on Company boards: plenary debate at the EP
3. DG Justice Organization Chart.