Lessons Learned in 2019
Louis Barbier comments to Les Échos on the "Lessons Learned" from this year's shareholder meetings in France. 17 June 2019
Partner Louis Barbier comments to Laurence Boisseau from Les Échos, the daily French financial newspaper, on the “Lessons Learned” from this year’s shareholder meetings in France.
As in previous years, executive pay and director elections were the most contested items in France.Louis Barbier commented that “The combined roles of President and CEO always capture attention, even though most groups with a CEO have organized safeguards with strong lead independent directors. The ISS advisory agency, which systematically recommends voting against the mandates of the latter, is joined by more and more major asset managers who take a principled position on the subject.”
Of particular interest this past year was the fact that two CAC 40, France’s main index, companies put to a shareholder vote their “raison d’être”. Atos was the first company in the CAC 40 to adopt a raison d’être, followed by Carrefour. These two companies amended their respective Articles of Association whilst other companies, like Veolia, talked about their raison d’être.
The full article can be accessed here (in French, subscription required).
