Ethos publishes its first study on the digital responsibility of Swiss companies

Carried out with the help of EthicsGrade, a UK-based company specialising in corporate digital responsibility ratings, this study examined the practices of the 48 largest listed companies in Switzerland (SMI Expanded). The results show that companies still lack transparency about their digital practices and that their degree of preparation for issues such as ethics in artificial intelligence are still in their early stages. Ethos and EthicsGrade have already planned to reconduct the study in 2022 and 2023.

Ethos strengthens its sustainability expectations with its 2022 proxy voting guidelines

The 21st edition of its proxy voting guidelines and corporate governance principles is an opportunity to strengthen the sustainability and diversity requirements of the Ethos Foundation. The criteria for approving a sustainability or a climate report submitted to shareholder approval have been detailed. In addition, the re-election of the chairperson of the sustainability committees of companies with high CO2 emissions whose transition plan is deemed unsatisfactory will be refused.

Credit Suisse AGM: Ethos expects responses from the board of directors

The bank has been hit by two financial scandals (Archegos Capital and Greensill) in recent week which have raised questions on its governance and risk management processes. As a shareholder and representative of numerous Swiss pension funds, Ethos has sent to the board of directors questions in relation with these recent cases.

Ethos strengthens its climate and diversity voting guidelines

Ethos published this Thursday the 20th edition of its voting guidelines and governance principles for the 2021 general meetings. Ethos asks the major emitters of greenhouse gases to publish and submit to shareholders' approval an annual report on their climate strategy and introduces new voting criteria into its guidelines.

Credit Suisse AGM: Ethos recommends to oppose the discharge and the remuneration proposals

At Credit Suisse Group’s annual general meeting to be held on 30 April 2020, Ethos recommends not to grant the discharge to the bank’s governing bodies, in light of the serious governance failings revealed by the surveillance of the bank’s former managers. Ethos also recommends to oppose the board and executive remuneration, as well as the re-election of the chairman of the board of directors. Finally, due to the economic uncertainties relative to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ethos recommends shareholders to forgo the payment of the dividend this year. 

Meyer Burger: Ethos recommends not to approve the election of the representative of Sentis Capital at the extraordinary general meeting to be held on 30 October 2019

Ethos Foundation recommends to support the board of directors and not to approve the election of Mark Kerekes at the extraordinary general meeting to be held on 30 October. This meeting was convened by the group of shareholders led by Sentis Capital (owned by the Russian investor Petr Kondrashev) and other shareholders (together holding 11% of the company's capital) to elect their representative to the board of directors. Meyer Burger's board unanimously recommends that this election be rejected.

Corporate tax responsibility: Expectations of institutional investors

Ethos publishes an Engagement Paper that summarizes its five expectations regarding corporate tax responsibility of listed companies. Following recent cases of aggressive tax optimization practices of certain companies, institutional investors consider these practices to be major financial and reputational risks for companies and their shareholders

2018 general meetings of SPI companies : Stabilisation of remuneration

Since the entry into force of the Ordinance against excessive remuneration (the Minder initiative), the different votes on board and executive remuneration are the proposals most contested by the shareholders, which is reflected in a stabilisation of overall remuneration in SPI companies and a slight decrease in the largest listed companies.

New appointments to the chairmanships of Ethos Foundation and Ethos Services

The general meetings of Ethos Foundation and Ethos Services will take place on the 14th of June in Fribourg. These meetings are an important milestone in Ethos’ history. Dr Dominique Biedermann, the last remaining Ethos founding member will not stand for re-election after 21 years of continuous engagement in favour of Ethos’ development. The boards of directors propose to appoint Dr Rudolf Rechsteiner as Chairman of Ethos Foundation and Ms Beth Krasna as Chairwoman of Ethos Services. The boards are convinced that these two personalities will actively contribute to maintaining Ethos’ strong presence as a major institution in the socially responsible investment field in Switzerland. 

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