October 2020 - Sustainable Value Investors

Companies / 27.10.2020

Unilever is top ranking in The Responsibility 100 Index developed by Tortoise Media, setting a best practice in tackling upstream and downstream emissions

Tortoise Media presented its Responsibility 100 Index with Unilever ranking first at the Responsible Business Summit, held online last October 15th, 2020. Unilever’s CEO provided some key insights on innovative and groundbreaking policies for increasing sustainability along the whole supply chain. By focusing on responsible...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Fashion, Tax Avoidance, Tech / 20.10.2020

OECD is guiding the international community in addressing the problem with tech giants and corporate tax

The international community guided by OECD has increasingly committed to finding a solution for the tax challenges connected to the digitalization of the economy. What the OECD proposed would assure that companies, especially big techs such as Google and Amazon, would pay taxes to the...

Big Four, Companies, Corporate Governance, Criminal Transactions, Financial Institutions / 20.10.2020

KPMG’s links to the Wirecard Scandal

The FT has shed a light on #KPMG’s double role in the #Wirecard scandal, outlining the controversial connection existing between the advisory company that last April revealed the Fintech fraud. This points out that #conflictsofinterest coupled with weak #corporategovernance, as well as complacency from the...

Companies, Tech / 19.10.2020

The power of Big Tech must be reined in

As the world of Big Tech is populated by a few colossi holding a disproportionate amount of power, both the EU and the US are taking steps forward. From measures aimed at fostering transparency and accountability, to more radical measures ensuring fair competition, the sector...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 15.10.2020

The London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell all its stake in Borsa Italiana to Euronext for €4,325 million

On October 9th, 2020, the London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell all its stake in Borsa Italiana to Euronext for €4,325 million. The transaction is expected to be completed within the first half of 2021. So far this is the piece of news....

Companies, Corporate Governance, Economics, Financial Institutions / 14.10.2020

China is opening to Wall Street and its European counterparts: which are the major challenges?

As the China-US trade war drags along with increasing Sino-American tensions, China has not ceased opening up various markets. Why is the opening of the financial industry in China important for foreign players? Is the liberalization a concession made by China in the trade war...

ESG / 09.10.2020

How to solve the present Lebanon’s financial and liquidity crisis?

We continue our report on Lebanon. In our previous installment, we took a closer look at Lebanon’s banking sector and its underlying monetary system which has strong responsibility in the present financial crisis. Today Lebanon is one of the most indebted countries in the world,...

Climate change / 09.10.2020

European Parliament voted to increase carbon emission cut to 60% by 2030

The new more ambitious GHG emissions reduction target of 60% by 2030 voted by the EU Parliament is a clear signal that Europe wants to remark its virtuous leadership in the green transition and together with implementing the taxonomy and the Action Plan on sustainable...

Big Four, ESG / 07.10.2020

Solving the “Alphabet Soup” of ESG Reporting: a pre-requisite to enable Stakeholder Capitalism

As a response to the fragmented environment of ESG reporting, the international community has begun taking its steps towards harmonization. After a joint vision has been shared by the five leading Framework and Standard-setting Institutions, also the Big Four Accounting Firms have recently disclosed a...

Disinvestment, ESG, Food and beverage / 02.10.2020

Meat alternatives market on a rise along with divestments from meat and dairy industries

The plant-based meat alternatives market is on a continuous rise. VC investment in bio-engineered foods has rocketed in the past 10 years and the trend is likely to continue with investors coming after bioengineered food start-ups in droves. Environmentalists are now pointing fingers at the...

Climate change, Companies / 01.10.2020

Accelerating Net Zero Carbon Emissions and the risk of cheap talks

More and more companies, cities, regions, countries are committing to becoming carbon neutral, i.e. to balance out the sum of all greenhouse gases put into and taken out of the atmosphere. More companies than ever committed to ambitious climate action at the Climate Week in...