“At the shareholders' meetings in which we exercised our right to vote, Candriam abstained or rejected 52% of the resolutions relating to directors' remuneration”. This was stated by Isabelle Cabie, Global Head Sri of Candriam, specifying that "the reasons for our vote against included serious concerns about remuneration practices, mainly due to the lack of transparency on the total potential compensation and/or performance targets long-term incentive plans. We therefore expect that the theme of directors' remuneration will continue to conquer the headlines also in 2014”.
In 2013, the investment firm Candriam participated in 75 general meetings on behalf of its open-ended funds, casting its vote on 1.156 issues.
As for equal opportunities at board level, “France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and, more recently, also Germany, have implemented legislation designed to incentivize Boards of Directors to increase the quotas of female Directors – she continued Cabie –. At European level, legislation on this matter is under discussion. However, a shared decision has not yet been reached on the sanctions to be applied to companies that do not comply with these directives. We therefore expect that the debate on equal opportunities will intensify in the coming years”.
Finally, regarding the mandatory rotation of audit firms, Candriam believes that the legislation, as well as the attitude of shareholders towards this topic, is changing. In April 2013, the European Union required public interest entities such as banks, insurance companies and publicly traded companies to change audit firms every 14 years.
“The European Commission is convinced that this measure will be of significant importance – concluded Cabie -. However, a decision regarding the transitional period has not yet been taken. In Brussels, some interest groups are pushing for it to be applied in 2019. Brussels wants to apply the reform as soon as possible because, in its opinion, the rotation of the audit firms – and not of the partners as is the current situation – will reduce the risk of establishing close personal relationships and dependence”.
