The revision of the shareholder rights directive is now entering the final phase of legislative progress. A report has been voted on May 7 by the Legal Affairs Committee at the European Parliament. Several political groups (EPP, ALDE, ECR) have expressed strong reservations about the vote and a further vote in Plenary has been requested. The plenary vote is scheduled for June 10th.
As a result, The European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif) – the leading pan-European sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) membership organisation – reached out to Eumedion, a Dutch-based investor-led organisation to write to the 751 Members of the European Parliament in order to urge them to support (to one exception) specific sections of the proposal that appears strategic :
- Ensures that institutional investors and asset managers develop detailed and long-term oriented engagement and voting policies in all circumstances.
- Preserves the “one share one vote principle” (Art. 3e) : Opposition to an amendment suggesting differential voting rights because granting additional voting rights to specific shareholders may be counterproductive, potentially resulting in undesirable concentration of power, and will not lead to greater engagement, a key objective of the Proposal.
- Enforces a robust “say-on pay” regime (Art. 9a and 9b)
- Strengthens shareholder protection against “unfair” material Related Party Transactions(Art. 9c) and
- Stresses the role of non-financial aspects throughout the text
EUROSIF and EUMEDION recommandations are fully in accordance with Proxinvest view and Proxinvest fully supports the view of both investor organizations for better shareholder rights.
