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Bonjour à toutes et à tous, voici une information de dernière minute !

Un amendement a été déposé ce mercredi 19 mai en commission des Affaires sociales à l’Assemblée nationale. Il vise à obliger les conseils d’administration à respecter les décisions votées par les assemblées des actionnaires. Cette proposition fait suite à l’affaire Renault…

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Ivan Tchotourian

L’Autorité prudentielle de la Banque d’Angleterre vient de publier un Supervisory Statement intitulé « Corporate governance: Board responsibilities » (SS5/16, mars 2016).

The Prudential Regulation Authority has published a policy statement and accompanying supervisory statement concerning the responsibilities of boards.

The purpose of this supervisory statement is to identify, for the boards1 of firms regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), those aspects of governance to which the PRA attaches particular importance and to which the PRA may devote particular attention in the course of its supervision. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive guide for boards of what constitutes good or effective governance. There are more general guidelines for that purpose, for example the UK Corporate Governance Code, published by the Financial Reporting Council.

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Ivan Tchotourian

Selon The New York Times (« ‘Customers First’ to Become the Law in Retirement Investing »), le département du travail américain vient de publier une nouvelle réglementation qui va imposer aux conseillers financiers et courtiers de devoir mettre en avant l’intérêt de leur client dans la gestion des fonds de retraite qu’ils administrent.

The Labor Department, after years of battling Wall Street and the insurance industry, issued new regulations on Wednesday that will require financial advisers and brokers handling individual retirement and 401(k) accounts to act in the best interests of their clients.

The government move is expected to encourage a shift of retirement funds into lower-cost investments — potentially saving billions of dollars for many ordinary investors — while setting off one of the biggest upheavals in the financial services industry in decades.

Pour rappel, au Canada, les ACVM ont publié le 28 avril 2016 un « Document de consultation 33-404 des ACVM : Propositions de rehaussement des obligations des conseillers, courtiers et des représentants envers leurs clients » qui comporte une partie 8 très intéressante : PARTIE 8 – PROJET DE CADRE DE LA NORME RÉGLEMENTAIRE D’AGIR AU MIEUX DES INTÉRÊTS DU CLIENT.

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Ivan Tchotourian

La Commission européenne vient de publier un document sur le financement participatif qui fait l’état des lieux des initiatives nationales : « COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
– Crowdfunding in the EU Capital Markets Union » (SWD(2016) 154 final).

Voici la conclusion de ce document :

This report demonstrates that crowdfunding remains relatively small in the EU but is developing rapidly. It has the potential to be a key source of financing for SMEs over the long term.

Crowdfunding is one of many technological innovations that have the potential to transform the financial system. Therefore, crowdfunding warrants consideration as part of our broader approach to FinTech and the digitalisation of financial services, which is being looked at further in the Green Paper on Retail Financial Services.

As demonstrated in this report, to promote the growth of crowdfunding and appropriately protect investors, EU Member States have put in place a range of measures to regulate crowdfunding – either using the EU legislative framework where appropriate or via national regimes. These national frameworks are broadly consistent in terms of the objectives and outcomes they seek to achieve, but are tailored to local markets and domestic regulatory approaches.

Given the predominantly local nature of crowdfunding, there is no strong case for EU level policy intervention at this juncture. Crowdfunding is still relatively small and needs space to innovate and develop. Given the dynamism of crowdfunding and the potential for future cross border expansion, it will be important to monitor the development of the sector and the effectiveness, and degree of convergence of, national regulatory frameworks.

The Commission Services will therefore maintain regular dialogue, through twice yearly meetings, with the European Supervisory Authorities, Member States, and the crowdfunding sector to promote convergence, sharing of best practice and keep developments under review. We will assess the development of cross-border business and consider in particular the investor protection aspects. This will ensure the Commission is able to respond in a timely manner if further steps to support convergence of regulatory approaches are needed, both to promote the development of the sector and to ensure appropriate investor protection.

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Ivan Tchotourian

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, le Financial Times apporte un regard critique sur les politiques de distribution des dividendes des entreprises : “Alarm grows as investors get bulk of listed groups’ profits” (9 mai 2016).

The world’s listed companies have paid out more than half their profits to shareholders in the form of dividends over the past year, an unusual situation that tends to occur only in periods of widespread economic weakness.  “The implication is companies have kept paying out dividends even as earnings have fallen away, and the risk is companies are paying out dividends that are not sufficiently covered by their profits,” said Robert Buckland, global equity strategist for Citi Research…. Directors of public companies must balance demands from shareholders to receive an income from their ownership of a company against the need to reinvest profits in the cause of expansion and future growth.

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Ivan Tchotourian

« How should the board respond when a ceo’s bad behavior makes the news? », c’est sous ce titre que David Larcker et Brian Tayan propos une analyse sur le « comment » un CA réagit aux mauvaises nouvelles induites par la mauvaise conduite d’un P-DG

Corporations engage in a variety of responses to allegations of CEO misconduct. The most common is a press release or formal statement on the matter. This occurred 84 percent of the time. In 71 percent of cases, a spokesperson provided direct commentary to the press. Board members were much less likely to speak to the media, making direct comments only 37 percent of the time. In over half of cases (55 percent), the board of directors was known to initiate an independent review or investigation. The board is most likely to announce an independent review in cases of potential financial misconduct. However, the willingness of an individual director to discuss the matter directly with the press does not appear to be associated with the type of behavior involved or the “severity” of the CEO’s actions”.

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Ivan Tchotourian