finance sociale et investissement responsable Gouvernance Responsabilité sociale des entreprises
ESG : la fin du greenwashing pour la SEC
Ivan Tchotourian 4 juin 2022 Ivan Tchotourian
Intéressante proposition faite récemment par la SEC récemment : « U.S. SEC unveils rules to ensure ESG funds follow through on investments » (Reuters, 27 mai 2022).
Proposition de la SEC :
Extrait
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday proposed a pair of rule changes aimed at stamping out unfounded claims by funds on their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) credentials, and enforcing more standardization of such disclosures.
The proposals, which are subject to public input, outline how ESG funds should be marketed and how investment advisors should disclose their reasoning when labeling a fund.
The new « Fund Names » proposal would seek to expand the number of funds that must invest 80% of their assets in line with their names and investment policies.
À la prochaine…
Divulgation divulgation extra-financière divulgation financière Gouvernance normes de droit parties prenantes Responsabilité sociale des entreprises
SEC : une réponse à sa consultation sur la divulgation en matière de risque COVID-19
Ivan Tchotourian 4 juillet 2020 Ivan Tchotourian
Par la voix de Carter Dougherty, l’Americans for Financial Reform a adressé sa réponse à la SEC à propos de la divulgation obligatoire du risque COVID-19 : « SEC Should Mandate Disclosures on COVID-19 Risks and Responses » (1er juillet 2020).
Extrait :
The impact of the losses on shareholders will be significant. Investors, however, are being forced to rely on news reports to try to understand how the crisis is impacting companies in their portfolios and how those companies are responding. The SEC must act to require companies to provide consistent, reliable data to investors about the economic impact of the pandemic on their business, human capital management practices, and supply chain risks. These disclosures should include:
- Workplace COVID-19 Prevention and Control Plan—Companies should disclose a written infectious disease prevention and control plan including information such as the company’s practices regarding hazard identification and assessment, employee training, and provision of personal protective equipment.
- Identification, Contact Tracing, and Isolation—Companies should disclose their policies for identifying employees who are infected or symptomatic, contact tracing and notification for potentially exposed employees and customers, and leave policies for infected employees who are isolating.
- Compliance with Quarantine Orders and phased reopening orders—Companies should disclose how they are complying with federal, state, and local government quarantine orders and public health recommendations to limit operations.
- Financial Implications—Companies should disclose the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their cash flows and balance sheet as well as steps taken to preserve liquidity such as accessing credit facilities, government assistance, or the suspension of dividends and stock buybacks.
- Executive Compensation—Companies should promptly disclose the rationale for any material modifications of senior executive compensation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including changes to performance targets or issuance of new equity compensation awards.
- Employee Leave—Companies should disclose whether or not they provide paid sick leave to encourage sick workers to stay home, paid leave for quarantined workers, paid leave at any temporarily closed facilities, and family leave options to provide for childcare or sick family
- Health Insurance—Companies should disclose the health insurance coverage ratio of their workforce and whether the company has a policy to provide employer-paid health insurance for any employees who are laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Contingent Workers—Companies should disclose if part-time employees, temporary workers, independent contractors, and subcontracted workers receive all the protections and benefits provided to full-time company employees, including those outlined above.
- Supply Chains-Companies should disclose whether they are current on payments to their supply chain vendors. Timely and prompt payments to suppliers will help retain suppliers’ workforces and ensure that a stable supply chain is in place for business operations going forward.
- Workers’ Rights-Companies should disclose their policies for protecting employees who raise concerns about workplace health and safety from retaliation, including whistleblower protections and contractual provisions protecting workers’ rights to raise concerns about workplace conditions.
- Political activity—Companies should disclose all election spending and lobbying activity, especially money spent through third parties like trade associations and social welfare 501(c)4 organizations.
Prior to the onset of COVID-19, it was often argued that human rights, worker protection and supply chain matters were moral issues not relevant to a company’s financial performance. As millions of workers are laid off and supply chains unravel, the pandemic has proven that view wrong. Businesses that protect workers and consumers will be better positioned to continue operations and respond to consumer demand throughout the pandemic. The disclosures outlined above will provide investors with important information to help them understand how COVID-19 is impacting the companies they are invested in. In addition, by requiring these disclosures, the Commission has the opportunity to encourage companies to review their current practices and consider whether updates are necessary in light of recent events. The process of preparing these disclosures may help some public companies to recognize that their current practices are not sufficiently robust to protect their workers, consumers, supply chains and, as a result, their investors’ capital given the impact of the pandemic.
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devoirs des administrateurs engagement et activisme actionnarial finance sociale et investissement responsable Nouvelles diverses place des salariés rémunération
La démocratie actionnariale: le pouvoir contesté des actionnaires
Julie Bernard 20 mars 2020
Le rôle des actionnaires semble de plus en plus contesté. Alors que certains mentionnent que les actionnaires et les administrateurs devraient être les seuls décideurs de l’entreprise , d’autres se demandent si les actionnaires représentent vraiment bien toutes les parties prenantes et si les actionnaires ont vraiment tous les outils pour prendre de « bonnes décisions » pour les employés, les consommateurs, les membres de la communauté, etc.
Dans tous les cas, pour le moment, les actionnaires tiennent dans leurs mains des pouvoirs importants principalement par le biais de leurs votes. À l’exception de quelques structures actionnariales qui émettent des actions sans droit de vote, les actionnaires détiennent habituellement des droits de vote avec chaque action qu’ils détiennent. Cette démocratie actionnariale permet, ou est censée permettre, une certaine forme de checks and balance et de reddition de compte.
Cependant, la démocratie actionnariale n’est pas au sommet de sa forme. Elle est quasi-inconnue par la plupart des particuliers et parfois utilisée par les investisseurs institutionnels comme forme d’engagement actionnarial. Peu semblent comprendre tout le pouvoir que représentent leurs votes. Dans ce balado Capitalisn’t: Shareholder vote suppression, plusieurs questions en lien avec la démocratie actionnariale est abordée avec les animateurs, mais aussi avec Rob Jackson, le commissionnaire des valeurs mobilières (Securities and Exchange Commission). Bien que le contexte de ce balado soit basé exclusivement dans un contexte américain, il y a plusieurs similarités dans le marché canadien.
L’épisode: https://review.chicagobooth.edu/public-policy/2019/article/capitalisn-t-shareholder-vote-suppression
Le site internet du balado ici : https://www.capitalisnt.com
N’hésitez pas à me faire parvenir vos questions ou certains sujets nécessitent plus d’approfondissement. C’est avec plaisir que je vous répondrais via un billet de blogue.
Bonne écoute!
Julie
Références: CEDROM-SNI (2019), » La rémunération des dirigeants d’une entreprise ne concerne que ses actionnaires et administrateurs », dans Le Soleil [en ligne], section Opinions, 20 mars, consultée le 19 mars 2020
Le Figaro avec APP (2019), « Rémunérations des dirigeants: les actionnaires non-représentés aux CA sont plus critiques », dans Le Figaro [en ligne], section Économie, 12 avril, consultée le 19 mars 2020
