As part of its annual Share Power campaign, Amnesty International is supporting a resolution urging Chevron to address investor concerns regarding its operations in Burma.
Chevron, in partnership with Total of France, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), holds equity in the largest investment project in Burma: the Yadana gas field and pipeline that transports gas to Thailand and has reportedly paid millions of dollars to the Burmese regime, Amnesty’s Ian Heide notes.
“Human rights organizations have documented egregious human rights abuses by Burmese troops employed to secure the pipeline area, including forcible relocation of villagers and use of forced labour on infrastructure related to the pipeline project.”
Chevron is the last major American company with active operations in Burma, according to the Shareholder Association for Research in Education (SHARE). “When Chevron purchased U.S. oil company UNOCAL in 2005, it acquired a minority stake in the Yadana pipeline,” SHARE says. A “grandfather” clause exempts Chevron from current U.S. sanctions on commercial activity in Burma.
Ongoing human rights issues, as well as mounting legal and reputational risks, have shareholders, unions and civil society groups calling for the company’s withdrawal from the country, SHARE adds.
The broad resolution – drafted by a diverse coalition of U.S. investors – calls on Chevron to submit a report by 2010 explaining the company’s criteria for investment in; continued operations in; and withdrawal from specific countries.
In its latest corporate social responsibility report, Chevron does not specifically mention its operations in Burma. “We are committed to respecting human rights in the countries and communities where we operate,” the report states.
SHARE says SRI investors can express support for human rights in Burma by asking mutual fund investment managers and advisors to consider voting in favour of the resolution.
Results will be announced at Chevron’s annual meeting on May 26, 2009.
Showing posts with label shareholder resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shareholder resolutions. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Ethical files human rights proposal with Power Corp.
Ethical Funds says Power Corporation of Canada needs to improve disclosure on how the financial holding company is dealing with human rights abuses in countries where it has operations.
Subsequently, Ethical has filed a shareholder proposal asking Power to strengthen its Corporate Social Responsibility statement to describe how it evaluates investments, as well as its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Power is perhaps best known for its financial subsidiaries, which include IGM Financial, Great-West Lifeco, Mackenzie Financial and London Life. All four companies offer SRI mutual funds.
However, Power also controls Pargesa Holding S.A. and ultimately Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), which has significant holdings in energy giant Total S.A. Total has operations in Burma and Sudan. In addition, Power has been approved by China’s securities regulator to invest in Yuan-denominates securities, Ethical notes.
“From the current disclosure, Power investors are unable to identify how the company is implementing its Corporate Social Responsibility statement,” Ethical says. “Consequently, investors are unable to determine if the company is effectively working to mitigate the risks of complicity with human rights abuses. Disclosure of Total’s policies in the appendix of Power’s proxy circular does not constitute adequate disclosure, nor do those policies effectively mitigate the risks from exposure to the deteriorating human rights situations in Burma and Sudan.”
“Shareholders require improved disclosure from Power in order to understand how the company is working to mitigate risks related to human rights abuses,” Ethical adds. “This resolution is simply asking for better disclosure on the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility statement.”
Power’s AGM is scheduled for May 13.
Subsequently, Ethical has filed a shareholder proposal asking Power to strengthen its Corporate Social Responsibility statement to describe how it evaluates investments, as well as its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Power is perhaps best known for its financial subsidiaries, which include IGM Financial, Great-West Lifeco, Mackenzie Financial and London Life. All four companies offer SRI mutual funds.
However, Power also controls Pargesa Holding S.A. and ultimately Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), which has significant holdings in energy giant Total S.A. Total has operations in Burma and Sudan. In addition, Power has been approved by China’s securities regulator to invest in Yuan-denominates securities, Ethical notes.
“From the current disclosure, Power investors are unable to identify how the company is implementing its Corporate Social Responsibility statement,” Ethical says. “Consequently, investors are unable to determine if the company is effectively working to mitigate the risks of complicity with human rights abuses. Disclosure of Total’s policies in the appendix of Power’s proxy circular does not constitute adequate disclosure, nor do those policies effectively mitigate the risks from exposure to the deteriorating human rights situations in Burma and Sudan.”
“Shareholders require improved disclosure from Power in order to understand how the company is working to mitigate risks related to human rights abuses,” Ethical adds. “This resolution is simply asking for better disclosure on the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility statement.”
Power’s AGM is scheduled for May 13.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
TD Bank gets on “say on pay” bandwagon
TD Bank agreed Wednesday to allow its shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation, starting next year.
The votes, which are non-binding, have already been accepted by the rest of Canada’s big banks, including RBC, CIBC, Scotiabank and BMO.
The resolution, brought forward by Meritas Mutual Funds and Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires (MEDAC) was to be voted on at TD’s annual meeting on April 2, however in a pre-emptive move, the bank decided to accept the proposal and the resolution will now be withdrawn.
"TD promotes open and proactive dialogue with shareholders, ensuring their feedback on compensation and other important issues is heard and carefully considered by the board," TD chairman John Thompson said in a release Wednesday.
"It's now clear from the votes held this year at the other major Canadian banks' meetings that the opinion of the investment community, while still divided, has moved in favour of an advisory vote, and so we've acted accordingly."
Last week, TMX Group, parent of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Sun Life Financial both said they will voluntarily offer shareholders a non-binding advisory vote on executive pay starting at their annual meeting next year. As a result, Meritas withdrew its proposal at both companies.
Just a few weeks ago, Canadian banks were carefully counting proxy votes before making the decision to adopt a non-binding pay vote, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE, which assisted Meritas on the resolutions) noted on its website. “Now, companies are implementing a shareholder 'say on pay' well ahead of their shareholder meetings.”
Laura O’Neill, director of law and policy at SHARE, says she’s pleased with TD’s decision, but adds that “given the lockstep in which our big banks move on governance, we certainly didn’t think that TD had much choice. But we’re happy to see the announcement a full two weeks before their AGM.”
O’Neill notes that Sun Life and TMX’s acceptances of the resolution are perhaps even more significant, providing a toehold into the world of issuers who are not banks, “because that’s clearly where we want to go.”
There are still a couple of outstanding executive compensation resolutions: Potash Corporation meets May 7 and a proposal was also filed at Nortel Networks, which filed for protection from creditors in January. “I doubt very much we’ll ever see this proposal on a Nortel ballot,” O’Neill concedes.
Considering the momentum the executive compensation has generated during this proxy voting season, O’Neill says she’s very interested to see what will happen next. “We’d like to see movement by the Canadian Securities Administrators to put this in place across the board. It would be a quick, clean way to get this done.”
The votes, which are non-binding, have already been accepted by the rest of Canada’s big banks, including RBC, CIBC, Scotiabank and BMO.
The resolution, brought forward by Meritas Mutual Funds and Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires (MEDAC) was to be voted on at TD’s annual meeting on April 2, however in a pre-emptive move, the bank decided to accept the proposal and the resolution will now be withdrawn.
"TD promotes open and proactive dialogue with shareholders, ensuring their feedback on compensation and other important issues is heard and carefully considered by the board," TD chairman John Thompson said in a release Wednesday.
"It's now clear from the votes held this year at the other major Canadian banks' meetings that the opinion of the investment community, while still divided, has moved in favour of an advisory vote, and so we've acted accordingly."
Last week, TMX Group, parent of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Sun Life Financial both said they will voluntarily offer shareholders a non-binding advisory vote on executive pay starting at their annual meeting next year. As a result, Meritas withdrew its proposal at both companies.
Just a few weeks ago, Canadian banks were carefully counting proxy votes before making the decision to adopt a non-binding pay vote, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE, which assisted Meritas on the resolutions) noted on its website. “Now, companies are implementing a shareholder 'say on pay' well ahead of their shareholder meetings.”
Laura O’Neill, director of law and policy at SHARE, says she’s pleased with TD’s decision, but adds that “given the lockstep in which our big banks move on governance, we certainly didn’t think that TD had much choice. But we’re happy to see the announcement a full two weeks before their AGM.”
O’Neill notes that Sun Life and TMX’s acceptances of the resolution are perhaps even more significant, providing a toehold into the world of issuers who are not banks, “because that’s clearly where we want to go.”
There are still a couple of outstanding executive compensation resolutions: Potash Corporation meets May 7 and a proposal was also filed at Nortel Networks, which filed for protection from creditors in January. “I doubt very much we’ll ever see this proposal on a Nortel ballot,” O’Neill concedes.
Considering the momentum the executive compensation has generated during this proxy voting season, O’Neill says she’s very interested to see what will happen next. “We’d like to see movement by the Canadian Securities Administrators to put this in place across the board. It would be a quick, clean way to get this done.”
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