Corporate Governance Archives - Sustainable Value Investors

Companies, Corporate Governance, Oil and Gas / 31.03.2021

Sound Corporate Governance under attack by the Government in Brazil and HOW are BRAZILIAN investors REACTING?

After increasing deforestation and breaching indigenous rights in 2020, the Brazilian Government has inaugurated 2021 meddling in the Corporate Governance of State controlled companies, such as Petrobras, Eletrobras, etc. At present we are assisting to a confrontation between single CEOs or Directors and the Government. SVI...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions, Tech / 02.02.2021

GameStop short squeeze: a just started story

It is a sad Luna Park that has been started around the video game company GameStop: an initial simplistic "David versus Goliath" narrative, or in this case "millennial traders versus Wall Street hedge funds" has been replaced by a much less exciting reality and has...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 18.12.2020

Index providers drop Chinese companies that have been labeled by the U.S. government as having ties to the Chinese military

MSCI, along with other predominant index providers, drops seven Chinese companies that have been labeled by the U.S. government as having ties to the Chinese military. Will this decision impede the international inflow of capital to China? What strategic importance does such a removal entail?...

Automobiles and Parts, Companies, Corporate Governance, Criminal Transactions, Tech / 11.12.2020

Nikola: what went wrong?

Nikola: what went wrong? SVI points out that proper corporate governance due diligence on the start-up would have saved much reputational risk to the potential big partners in the story such as General Motors and BP Nikola, the U.S. electric vehicle startup founded by Trevor Milton,...

Companies, Corporate Governance / 03.12.2020

Is China investing in Corporate Governance? And what about gender diversity?

Is the concept of corporate governance gaining relevance in China and which are the main constraints to its development? Despite the rapid economic growth in recent years, the institution of corporate governance in China is far from mature. Best practices in corporate governance as well...

Companies, Corporate Governance, ESG, ESG Rating, Financial Institutions / 25.11.2020

Deutsche Börse to acquire proxy voting advisor ISS for €1.9 million

Deutsche Börse acquires leading proxy voting advisor ISS for €1.9 million. The rationale of the transaction relies on Deutsche Börse intention to become the future leading ESG player globally. SVI raises concerns about the lack of competition in the proxy voting advisory market, the increase in...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 05.11.2020

Suspension of the world’s largest IPO: what’s at stake with Ant Group’s listing

The world's largest IPO, the listing of Ant Group, has been suspended last-minute. The Shanghai Stock Exchange announced the suspension claiming the Group has failed to meet the issuance and listing conditions or information disclosure requirements. However, is this the full story? [caption id="attachment_3850" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]...

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, 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...

Corporate Governance, ESG / 25.09.2020

The role of the banking sector in the present Lebanon crisis

The second report of the Lebanon series by Christina Lawandos we publish today considers the role that Lebanon’s monetary system and banking sector play in the present crisis. With a debt to GDP ratio of 152%, Lebanon is the third most indebted country in the world after Japan and...

Corporate Governance, ESG / 11.09.2020

ESG issues in Beirut Blast

SVI start publishing today reports by Christina Lawandos on the current Lebanese situation from an ESG perspective. Christina is our contact in Lebanon, a local witness strongly engaged in sustainable topics. Unfortunately, what happened in Beirut has to do with very severe ESG topics: negligence,...

Companies, Coronavirus, Corporate Governance / 10.09.2020

The Ethics of Executive Compensation amidst the Covid-19 pandemic

As the economy increasingly struggled amidst the COVID19 pandemic, many corporations halted their dividend plans but appeared instead more reticent in sacrificing their executive compensation plans. For instance, the cases of IAG, British Airways owner, and Ryanair Bonus payment to CEO Michael O’Leary bring forth ethical considerations on the...