UK-based proxy voting and research firm Manifest Information Services, which numbers the Swedish AP buffer funds among its clients, is planning to enter US market.
Manifest, whose US partner Proxy Governance International (PGI) withdrew from the market late last year, will begin marketing in the US shortly, said Chief Executive Sarah Wilson.
Manifest’s move comes at an interesting time, with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new proxy access rules facing a legal challenge from the US Business Roundtable and Chamber of Commerce. (UK proxy firm Manifest planning to enter US market, Responsible Investor, 1/24/2011).
The United Nations Global Compact has expelled more than 2,000 companies for “repeated failure” to communicate their progress in integrating its sustainability principles into their operations.
The move reflects a stricter enforcement procedure against firms. The Global Compact said it has now booted out a total of 2,048 firms – the number was reached following the recent expulsion of more than 200 companies. This was at the end of a 2010 moratorium on expulsions in less developed countries. That leaves 6,066 active Global Compact participants in 132 countries. The target is for 20,000 participants by 2020.
The Global Compact is a framework for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations with 10 principles covering human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. (UN Global Compact expels more than 2,000 companies in enforcement drive, Responsible Investor, 1/24/2011). If you’re near Standard, you may want to attend the following discussion: The U.N. Global Compact: Principles for Businesses in Human Rights, Labor, Environment and Anti-Corruption, Sponsored by the Arthur and Toni Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Thursday, February 2nd, 2011, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM, Room 190, Stanford Law School.
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