Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, a current and former subsidiary, has agreed to pay a total of $346.7m to reach settlements with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following investigations into bribery schemes. The DOJ alleges Greek subsidiary Novartis Hellas offered “inappropriate economic benefits” to the country’s healthcare professionals between […]
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French regulator demands broader scope for non-financial reporting The French securities regulator, AMF, has asked the European Commission to make all companies, irrespective of size, disclose harmonised ESG data under the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive. The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), explaining its reasoning in a response to the commission’s call for feedback on the […]
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Carney: Data interpretation key to zero carbon transition Investors must learn how to interpret, and apply, the increasing volume of ESG data if they are to formulate successful strategies to tackle climate change, according to the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Addressing members of the Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice (PIMFA) trade […]
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IMF warns equity investors over climate risk Equity investors will increasingly have to consider the physical impacts of climate change on their portfolios, according to recent guidance from the International Monetary Fund. In a written update on its website, the IMF outlined the direct cost of severe weather events such as floods, forest fires and […]
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European Commission pushes ahead with SRD II The European Commission will proceed with the implementation of the second Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II), defying protests from some post-trade groups. As a result, the second phase of SRD II will come into force on 3 September 2020, as originally scheduled. The first phase of implementation saw […]
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BlackRock ups the pressure on Exxon Mobil BlackRock has shown it can get serious with portfolio companies, this week cranking up the pressure on Exxon Mobil by voting against the re-election of several of the company’s leadership team. Citing insufficient progress on sustainable reporting, an inadequate mix of skillsets and an inability to assess material […]
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European regulators have removed temporary bans on short selling that have been in place since the height of the pandemic-induced selloff in March. Authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy and Spain allowed their bans to expire at midnight on 18 May. Several of the regulators claimed the measures had been a success. The AMF, […]
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US authorities are placing greater scrutiny on Chinese companies and other emerging markets listed in the US following the fallout from the Luckin Coffee fraud scandal. A recent success story among investors, having raced to a Nasdaq listing within 18 months of its foundation, and challenging coffee giant Starbucks in the Chinese market, Luckin Coffee’s […]
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The chair of the European Confederation of Directors Associations (ECODA) has urged boards to embrace ESG in the fightback against coronavirus and the economic chaos which will likely follow the pandemic. In an open letter, chair Jan Wesseldijk explained it is the responsibility of companies to contribute to the survival of the economy, noting that […]
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As the UK entered COVID19 lockdown last week, Minerva wrote to regulators asking for their intervention to create an orderly market in AGMs. Today a letter has been sent to quoted companies asking them to clarify their AGM proposals, alerting them to the risk of bunching meetings in June. With AGM season about to get […]
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