06.09.2011
13:30-15:30

An Investigation into Stewardship: A debate on corporate governance reform in the European Union

Published in 
Lunchtime events
CEPS - Centre for European Policy Studies 1 Place du Congrès / Congresplein 1000 Brussels

A debate on corporate governance reform in the European Union

The presentation of the external report ‘An Investigation into Stewardship’ gathered representatives from the capital markets, banks, accountancy organisations and international law firms. Authors Charles Cronin and John Mellor highlighted the importance of stewardship (investor engagement) to maximize risk adjusted returns. When investing long-term on behalf of their beneficiaries, institutional investors should discuss strategy, risks and business opportunities. So should do asset managers as part of their investment mandate. Eddy Wymeersch, Chairman of the European Corporate Governance Institute, stressed that comply-or-explain corporate governance does not work without shareholder engagement. In the same line, MEP Sebastian Bodu pointed out that regulation alone will not work without a genuine compromise from the investment industry. Alan Brown, CIO at Schroders, considered that while engagement by investors is important, stronger corporate governance is also needed, for instance, to improve monitoring of management by boards.

Responsible ownership is high on the agenda after the European Commission launched proposals to improve corporate governance for both non-financial and financial institutions. The European Capital Markets Institute and the Centre for European Policy Studies recently contributed to a research on stewardship, led by Charles Cronin, former Head of Standards and Financial Market Integrity EMEA at CFA Institute, and Dr. John Mellor, Founder and Executive Director at FGRE. The report 'Engagement between investors and public companies: Impediments and their resolution' will be presented in this event by their authors and commented by market participants and officials. To download the report please click here.

Speakers

  • Sebastian Bodu, Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur on corporate governance for the JURI Committee 
  • Eddy Wymeersch, Chairman, European Corporate Governance Institute
  • Alan Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Schroders
  • Marc Hertgen, Corporate Governance Unit, European Commission
  • Charles Cronin, CFA, Former Head Standards and Financial Market Integrity EMEA CFA Institute
  • John Mellor, Founder and Executive Director FGRE, Visiting Professor in Governance Bristol Business School
  • Rene Karsenti, Chair of the Board, European Capital Markets Institute (moderator)

Queries

For more information please contact Mirzha de Manuel at mirzha.demanuel@ceps.eu or phone 0032 2 229 39 17.