FN: Proxy voting agencies attack AMF proposals

29 March 2011

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers has proposed that any recommendation from proxy agencies should give companies a minimum of 24 hours to read their draft report, accept any corrections the company requires and insert any commentary the company may wish to add, before it is sent to shareholders.

In a letter to the AMF, Manifest, a proxy voting agency whose clients own more than £3 trillion of assets and which has been providing investor guidance on corporate governance and other issues for 15 years, said: “We draw the AMF’s attention to the global Chartered Financial Analyst best practice guidance on conflicts of interest and objectivity standards, particularly, ‘Prior to publication of their reports, sellside analysts may only submit to corporate issuers for review for factual accuracy those portions of their research reports that do not contain or disclose conclusions, recommendations, estimates, valuations or price targets’.”

Manifest added that the proposal would cause practical problems. Shareholders in French companies have between eight and 14 days’ notice of the issues on which they are to vote.

The AMF’s proposals, issued on March 18, follow a new statute that could be used by French companies to bar dissenting votes at shareholder meetings.

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