At the request of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the Investment Association (IA) has launched a public register of FTSE All-Share companies showing occasions where these companies have experienced substantial shareholder dissent i.e. where companies have received votes of 20% or more against any resolution or which have withdrawn a resolution before their AGM.
The purpose of the register is to identify companies who receive a high vote against or withdraw a resolution, and to understand the process used by those companies to identify and address their shareholders’ concerns. The register also publishes links to any public statements made by those companies on how they are addressing those concerns.
In the period from 1 January to 15 December 2017:
- 22% of FTSE All-Share companies featured on the register.
- Pay-related resolutions featured most commonly on the register (38%) followed by re-election of director resolutions (32%).
- 31% of companies on the register published a statement explaining how they are adressing shareholder dissatisfaction.
The register represents a substantial piece in the move towards greater transparency and accountability in corporate governance by putting companies under close scrutiny by investors, the media and the wider public in general.