Proxinvest soon Managing Member of the European Corporate Governance Service (ECGS).

The European ECGS joint venture , just strengthen by the entry of Dutch Shareholder Support, will be managed by Proxinvest starting in October 2010.

Experts in shareholder voting

As the ECGS analyst for Portuguese and Spanish companies Proxinvest just succesfully led the arbitrage of the incredible world cup match of the EGM that opposed Portugal Telecom to Telefonica at the Portugal Telecom EGM of June 3OTH. Proxinvest advice obtained a potential of millions of euros for the benefit of all Portugal Telecom shareholders .

Proxinvest advises investors on shareholder value and how to cast their votes. Proxinvest, an independent consulting firm, serving only ALL shareholders, offers proxy voting research and solutions tailored to the specific investors needs.

On June 1st.2010 Proxinvest announced a strategic alliance with the Ethos Foundation.

SHAREHOLDERS RIGHTS ARE THE CONDITION OF INVESTMENT AND GROWTH!

While in Switzerland the Ethos Fondation had launched its campaign against excessive management remunerations UBS, the French proxy season had started here with the reasonable engagement of several big investors including the tabling of two external resolutions at Lagardère SCA with the New York governance activis Guy Wyser-Pratte as external candidate, and an unseen external resolution for a split Chairman-CEO at Société Générale. In both cases the resolution where well supported by the needed thresholds of the companies capital. But the Directors of both companies en refused access to the agenda to these resolutions from investors looking for a change in the company by-laws for an improved governance : actually Lagardère finally was forced by the to table the resolution. Nevertheless, in both cases the Directors denied their rights to the sahreholders as Total, Sanofi-Aventis or Cap Gemini had done it despite of the unquestioned legality of these resolution deposits.

While our financial markets appear sabotaged by the explosion of conflicts of interests generated by the universal banking system, French shareholders now need the help of the Courts to be heard. Not an easy ride.

Still was Total’s 2009 petition against its Employee fund just dismissed, thanks to the courage of several Directors of the employees fund Total Actionnariat France ( the main shareholder of Total !) who resisted to the suit of oil major for a € 44 000 indemnity only because they had applied strictly the Funds rules and had therefore excluded the management representatives form the resolutions vote ! A good Court decision.

The French government remains ill advised on this topic: it is preparing to rule by Ordonnance a theatening the validity of foreign proxy votes and confirming the valid participation of management into the employees funds vote of company resolutions. A grim perspective.

Proxinvest published its first report on Directors' remuneration in European listed companies

Proxinvest founder Pierre-Henri Leroy advocated since 2001 a "Split Banking" local or global financial reform (See Le Monde) and welcomed the "Volcker Rule" commenting on President Barack Obama's Financial Reform plans. OUR LAST PROXINVEST 2009 REPORT ON EUROPEAN PROXY VOTES was presented to the press on February 9th. Facing corporate greed and lack of accountability shareholders democracy should be advocated and supported as the only mean to rein complacency and abuses, as demonstrated in the last Proxinvest Report on Directors Pay.

Founded in Paris in 1995 by its current CEO, Pierre-Henri Leroy, the research firm Proxinvest was chosen by numerous French and foreign institutional investors to assist them in deciding how to vote on resolutions presented at shareholders' meetings of French companies. With its partners in European Corporate Governance Services (ECGS Ltd., www.ecgs.org), Proxinvest offers coverage of all companies in the MSCI Europe index and FTSE Eurofirst 300. The shares of French companies held by Proxinvest clients represent a portfolio of more than € 60 billion.

*Voting is easy as a click! 2010 : the year for Internet Voting?