The three companies ahead of all in integrated governance, i.e. responsible and sustainable governance, are Snam, Enel and Generali. The company with the greatest percentage progress compared to 2016 was Unipol. The best of the medium-sized companies (after the 40 blue chips) was Iren. But it is the entire sample of the Integrated Governance Index 2017, the top 100 Italian listed companies, that demonstrate surprising progress and awareness of the new strategic model.
In terms of the adoption of the non-financial directive, there is awareness (over 90% of respondents are within the application), but only
in 50% of cases the new legislation was examined by the board. On the other hand, there is a clear opening to responsible finance: one company out of four considers investing in Sri. At the same time, large Italian assets (pension funds and family offices) are ready to make investments in the real economy (over half of the subjects say they have made or are ready to invest in companies), preferring companies (in 57% of cases) with the ability to integrate ESG into governance.
These are the key aspects that emerged during the Integrated Governance Conference organized on Wednesday 21 June in Milan, during which, among others, the research was presented: Integrated Governance Index (IGI) 2017, including the survey on the adoption of financial; independent directors and integrated governance; large estates (foreign and Italian) and integrated governance. The project (the research and the Conference) represents the first observatory in Italy and Europe on the governance of sustainability, i.e. on the level of integration in good corporate governance of non-financial variables (ESG). More than 170 governance, compliance, sustainability, reporting and finance professionals registered for the conference.
The conference was attended by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Consob, Assogestioni, Assonime, Confindustria, Assofondipensione and Cdp. The companies Enel, Unipol and Iren were present, representing the best houses of IGI. “The result obtained by Enel in the Integrated Governance Index demonstrates that the path taken by the Group to integrate sustainability into the business is the right one; a recognition that must be shared with all the colleagues involved in this process - said Andrea Valcalda, Enel's sustainability manager. “Our goal is to grow together with society and the communities we belong to, through involvement and listening, sharing our principles of ethics, transparency, inclusiveness, respect for human rights and maximum attention to safety. These are essential elements for the creation of long-term value, and a fundamental approach for being innovative and sustainable leaders in the global energy market”.
“The Unipol Group – said Marisa Parmigiani, sustainability manager of the Unipol Group – sees recognition in this increase in position of the work carried out in recent years to integrate sustainability into business strategies, materialized in particular with two acts: the definition of a Plan integrated triennial with non-financial objectives and the drafting of the first integrated financial statements. A solid commitment, the result of twenty-five years of reflections and activities which today finds a positive and sensitive context also on the institutional and market side".
“The willingness of the Iren Group to increasingly integrate sustainability into its strategy, - commented the vice president of Iren, Ettore Rocchi - is confirmed by the lines of our Business Plan, in the improvement objectives that we have defined, in the strengthening of governance with the establishment of the Control, Risk and Sustainability Committee and last but not least in the recognition of the Integrated Governance Index 2017. Sustainability is increasingly at the center of the new global challenges and those who, like the Iren Group, manage resources of primary importance such as water, energy and waste, must play an active role to contribute proactively and effectively to these challenges. This is our strategic orientation”.
The lack of full involvement of the boards on the non-financial issue that emerges from the research, "is an exemplary case - underlined Paola Schwizer, president of Nedcommunity - which confirms the profound difference between the effective weight that the boards have in the formulation of the strategic objectives of the company, and the need, expressed by the directors, for a more active role in defining the medium and long-term objectives which contemplate all forms of value creation. To bridge this gap, it will be necessary to realize the important contribution that the various professionals present on the board of directors can make to the discussion of strategic issues".
"The new disclosure obligations on environmental and social matters - said Stefano Speroni, partner in charge of the Corporate M&A Department of Dentons - represent an excellent opportunity for our large companies to promote the efforts made on issues on which there is a new sensitivity also on the part of institutional investors, increasingly attentive to the social profiles of their investments. Hence the need to adopt reporting systems suitable for communicating the policies adopted and the results obtained, as well as proving compliance with the organizational models adopted, also for the purposes of the administrative liability of entities. On the other hand, in matters of respect for human rights, the fight against corruption and environmental protection, the boundary between the obligations incumbent on the public sector and those incumbent on private operators must be clearly marked, also in order to protect the competitiveness of our businesses and of the country system".
Stefano Cacchi Pessani, partner and member of BonelliErede's Corporate Governance Focus Team, placed at the center of his speech the contribution that corporate law can make to impose socially responsible behavior on company managers, highlighting how social responsibility as an "external" element ” to the management of the company has progressively become a key factor of the corporate strategy, which as such can be the object of specific duties of diligence of the directors, the violation of which can give rise to their liability.
