Denmark: new corporate governance recommendations - now available in English

The new Corporate Governance Recommendations, published at the end of last year by the Corporate Governance Committee, are now available in English: see here (pdf).

Denmark: updated Corporate Governance Recommendations

The Corporate Governance Committee has published a revised edition of its Corporate Governance Recommendations: see here (pdf, Danish). A copy of the new Recommendations, in English, has not yet been published.

Update (28 January 2018) - now available in English: see here (pdf).

Denmark: Stewardship Code (copy in English now available)

Towards the end of last year, the Committee on Corporate Governance published recommendations regarding active ownership by institutional investors (aka a stewardship code): see here (Danish, pdf). The recommendations - there are seven of them - seek to promote long-term value creation; they came into effect at the start of last month and a copy of them in English is now available: see here (pdf).

Denmark: recommendations on active ownership by institutional investors

The Committee on Corporate Governance has published recommendations regarding active ownership by institutional investors (aka a stewardship code): see here (Danish, pdf). The recommendations - there are seven of them and they have not yet been published formally in English - seek to promote long-term value creation; they came into effect at the start of the year.

Update (8 February 2017) - a copy of the recommendations in English is now available: see here (pdf).

Denmark: Stewardship Code to be developed, instigated by Government

The Minister for Business and Growth, Troels Lund Poulsen, has asked the Committee on Corporate Governance to prepare a Stewardship Code containing recommendations for active ownership by institutional investors: see here. The Minister, in his announcement, cited as an example the UK Stewardship Code.

Denmark: Revised edition of the Recommendations on Corporate Governance

The codes and principles directory maintained by the European Corporate Governance Institute was updated yesterday with a revised copy of the Recommendations on Corporate Governance published by the Danish Committee on Corporate Governance: see here. The introduction to the Recommendations has been amended to take into account the European Commission recommendation on the quality of corporate governance reporting (2014/208/EU).

Note: The ECGI's link to the English version of the revised Recommendations is not currently working; a direct link, from the Governance Committee's website, is available here (pdf).

Denmark: Recommendations on Corporate Governance

The codes and principles directory maintained by the European Corporate Governance Institute was updated today with a copy of the 2014 Recommendations on Corporate Governance published by the Danish Committee on Corporate Governance: see here.

Denmark: Recommendations on Corporate Governance

Following the conclusion of a consultation earlier this year, the Committee on Corporate Governance has now published its revised Recommendations on Corporate Governance: see here (English, pdf) or here (Danish, pdf). 

Denmark: Committee consults on new and simplified governance recommendations

Earlier this year the Committee on Corporate Governance published for consultation new and simplified recommendations on corporate governance: see here. A draft copy of the revised recommendations is not yet available in English but a copy in Danish is available here (pdf). The Committee is proposing, amongst other things, to replace its current 79 recommendations with 50. Earlier recommendations of the Committee are available here.

UK: women on boards - Prime Minister has not ruled out quotas

The UK's Prime Minister made comments yesterday at the Northern Future Forum in Stockholm regarding board diversity and said that whilst he did not favour quotas the Government had not ruled out their introduction: see here and here. The countries taking part in the meeting - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the UK - have contributed to a document which provides some interesting information on board diversity and measures that have been taken: see here (pdf).

Denmark: revised corporate governance recommendations published

Denmark's Committee on Corporate Governance has published a revised edition, dated August 2011, of its corporate governance recommendations: see here (pdf). The revised edition contains new recommendations regarding board diversity, including the desirability of setting objectives for the increased representation of women.

Denmark: revised corporate governance recommendations

Denmark's Corporate Governance Committee has revised its corporate governance recommendations: see here (pdf). The revisions reflect various developments in Denmark (including the new Companies Act) and Europe (e.g., the Commission's recommendations on remuneration).

Denmark: updated Recommendations for Corporate Governance

Towards the end of last year, the Danish Committee on Corporate Governance made several changes to its Recommendations for Corporate Governance (2005) concerning board diversity. An updated copy of the Recommendations, in English, is available here. 

Section III (Transparency) and Section V (Composition of the Supervisory Board) have been revised. One change in Section III concerns the annual report. It continues to be recommended that the supervisory board should decide whether it is expedient for the company to publish non-financial information in circumstances where this is not required by law or relevant accounting standards. However, a new example of such disclosure is provided: "diversity, among other things in relation to gender and age, within the supervisory board, the executive board and the company in general". In Section V, it is now recommended that the diversity of the supervisory board is considered by the board when it evaluates its competence.

Denmark: corporate social responsibility reporting

Several months ago the Danish Government published its Action Plan for Corporate Social Responsibility. In the Plan the Government explained that it would make it mandatory for large businesses, institutional investors and unit trusts to report on corporate social responsibility matters (further information, in English, is available here).  The UK's Financial Times newspaper has recently reported that legislation introducing these provisions will be voted on in October. 

Directors' liability discharge proposals - report published

Manifest, in conjunction with Morley Fund Management, has published a report titled "Directors' liability discharge proposals: the implications for shareholders". The report, to quote directly from it: 

.... addresses what for many investors has been a largely obscure issue, namely proposals to discharge directors of liabilities that routinely appear on shareholder meetings’ agendas in many European markets. We look at 13 European markets that have resolutions of this type – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland; their legal basis and practical implications for shareholders in the voting context".

Denmark: private equity and transparency

The Danish Venture Capital and Private Equity Association has published "Active ownership and transparency in private equity funds: guidelines for responsible ownership and good corporate governance". The guidelines, which operate on the 'comply or explain' basis, contain rules governing the disclosure of information to supplement the requirements, where relevant, of the Danish Financial Statements Act.  In the report it is stated:

...it has to be recognised that today’s private equity funds own companies that may be of broad interest to society. These may be companies that are important for infrastructure or play a major role in the local area. They may also be companies that employ large numbers of people. In addition, many investors in private equity funds are pension funds, whose most important stakeholders are pension savers – typically ordinary salary earners. The general public may therefore have an interest in gaining insight into how a private equity fund works and creates value. This is the background to why these guidelines specify a number of areas where private equity funds and their portfolio companies should publish information.

According to a report in the Financial Times newspaper:

Denmark has leapfrogged the UK and adopted the most far-reaching guidelines to improve the transparency of private equity funds. The new voluntary code ... is designed to rehabilitate the reputation of private equity in Denmark, but will also increase pressure on the industry in the rest of Europe to follow suit to avert the threat of national or EU imposed rules. The UK and Sweden have already published voluntary guidelines to try to head off such rules but the DVCA's proposals go much further by covering 80 per cent of private equity-owned companies - compared to just the 100 largest under the UK guidelines - and requiring a far higher level of disclosure."

For further information see:

DVCPEA | Guidelines | Financial Times report | 

Europe: greater regulation of hedge funds and private equity?

A meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs takes place later today. On the agenda is a draft report by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP (a former prime minister of Denmark) in which he calls for (a) greater regulation of hedge funds and private equity and (b) the European Commission to submit proposals to the European Parliament in respect of (a). Amongst the more specific recommendations are:

• The establishment of a European supervisor covering all financial services sectors (capital markets, securities, insurance and banking)
  
• The creation of a European Union framework for the registration and authorisation of entities that control the investment of hedge funds or private equity

It's very unlikely that the Commission will show much enthusiasm.  In a speech delivered earlier this year, Internal Market Commissioner McCreevy made his position clear: "I am not in favour of heavy handed regulation ... I do not see an obvious market failure at EU level".

Denmark: Governance Principles Updated

Earlier this year, Part VI of the Nørby Committee's Recommendations for Good Corporate Governance in Denmark was revised. Part VI deals with the remuneration of the members of the supervisory and executive boards. The revised version, which contains much more detail than its predecessor, is available here.