Internationale rapporter og tendensen

Forskere: Der mangler et T for Tax i ESG-universet, og de bedst ESG-ratede virksomheder er ofte også de største skatteunddragere: Forskere skriver i forskningspapir med titlen ”The Missing ”T” in ESG”, at ”astoundingly, public corporations—many of which have the highest ESG scores and are the largest recipients of ESG fund investments—are also the biggest tax avoiders. As this Essay shows, through the exploitation of legal loopholes and other grey areas, these companies increasingly deprive governments of the funding needed for the provision of public goods and the promotion of important societal policies, exacerbating administrative inefficiencies and deepening societal inequality—outcomes that are starkly at odds with ESG principles. To address this paradox, this Essay advocates incorporating tax-avoidance behavior into ESG ratings. It also argues that tax considerations should be accorded considerable weight not only by ESG rating agencies but also by institutional investors who shoulder part of the fault for the existing state of affairs.”

Norges Bank stiller krav til de børsnoterede selskabers governance omkring kunstig intelligens (AI): Konsulentfirma gennemgår i et indlæg med titlen “Next-Gen Governance: AI’s Role in Shareholder Proposals” på Harvard Law School den nye dimension i god selskabsledelse, hedder det, at ” At Apple, Glass Lewis and ISS supported AFL-CIO’s proposal arguing that improved transparency would allow shareholders to better evaluate the risks associated with the use of AI and would not be overly burdensome on the company. Notably, investors like Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) (who has publicly set out its expectations regarding the governance of AI by its portfolio companies), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) (who has also set out its expectations for AI adoption) and abrdn publicly expressed support for the proposal at the AGM. The resolution ultimately received 37.5% support.”

Proxy rådgiver kritisk over Universal-CEO’s lønpakke på 119 mio. euro: Den britiske avis Guardian skriver, at ”Universal Music Group could become the latest company to face an embarrassing shareholder revolt this AGM season, after an influential advisory firm urged investors to reject an “excessive” €139m (£119m) payout for its chief executive, Lucian Grainge. Glass Lewis said it had “severe reservations” about supporting the Dutch-American music company’s pay decisions, which included a €92m share-based bonus for its British-born CEO that easily made up for a 51% cut in his salary, to €7.5m. Universal – the world’s largest music company, whose catalogue includes songs by stars including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Coldplay – said the bonus pot of shares would be paid out over five years, based on earnings and share price performance. It is meant to make up for a drop in the value of the former parent company Vivendi’s shares after the spin-off of Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2021.”

ESG-forslag på forårets generalforsamlinger har mindre effekt end tidligere. Finanshuset T. Rowe Price skriver i en gennemgang, at ”this is the fourth year that we have published analysis of our voting results on shareholder resolutions on environmental, social, and political topics.[1] Since the 2021 proxy voting season, when these resolutions earned unusually high support, we have observed a bifurcation among proponents of these resolutions, particularly in the U.S. and Canada. Many resolutions are still put forward under a traditional framework of advocating for actions that could increase the value of the corporation or reduce the risks it faces. However, a new approach has taken hold in these markets that we believe is not tethered to value creation for shareholders. We explore the effects of this bifurcation in this year’s report. Changing dynamics in North America: Amid growing demands on the private sector to align businesses in ways that also address significant societal challenges, shareholder resolutions have long been used as one mechanism to foster dialogue between investors and corporate leaders. However, in the past three years, the utility of such resolutions has deteriorated, from our perspective, particularly in the U.S. and Canada, which together represent 82% of the 527 proposals analyzed in this report.”

Morten W. Langer