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    Governance News 23 September 2020

    60 minute read (PDF download)  22.09.2020 Mark Standen, Siobhan Doherty, Kate Hilder

    COVID-19 Special Edition This issue of Governance News covers: a) key COVID-19 related developments including an article reflecting on the possible Australian implications of the recent UK business interruption insurance test case; b) various ESG, sustainability and climate related developments including the release of BlackRock's annual stewardship report and the release of the BRT's climate statement; and c) financial services and regulatory developments including the release of ASIC's latest enforcement activity report covering H1 2020.

    Full coverage of this weeks content is now available


    Past issues are available

    read this issue
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    https://www.minterellison.com/articles/governance-news-23-september-2020

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    COVID-19 Key Developments Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | Business Interruption Insurance for COVID-19 UK High Court Guidance
    •  Top Story | Building corporate resilience in the time of COVID-19: An interview with professional company director Anne Ward
    •  COVID-19: China says COVID-19 should 'launch a green revolution' and has announced it is targeting carbon neutrality 'before' 2060
    • In Brief | COVID-19: Consistent with the government's earlier announcement, the Corporations and Bankruptcy Legislation Amendment (Extending Temporary Relief for Financially Distressed Businesses and Individuals) Regulations 2020 extend temporary insolvency and bankruptcy relief until 31 December 2020
       

    Diversity Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Why is there so little progress? CEW report finds only one of the 25 new CEOs appointed to ASX 200 companies was a woman
    • According to Equilar's analysis (sluggish) progress toward gender parity on US boards is continuing, despite the pandemic
    • 'Modest progress' on the prevalence of minority directors: ISS data shows that the proportion of ethnically/racially diverse directors on S&P 500 boards is slowly increasing
    • ING has welcomed the fourfold increase in fathers taking more than two weeks parental leave, following a change in the company's parental leave policy one year ago, especially in light of the increased pressure on families as a result of the pandemic
       

    Shareholder Activism Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Shareholders apply pressure on miners over heritage sites
    •  In Brief | Climate Action 100+ has called on the 161 largest GHG emitting companies to commit to net zero business strategies and informed them that their progress will be assessed and used to inform Climate Action 100+ engagement strategies going into 2021
    •  In Brief | Major investor groups representing assets worth over $103 trillion have released an Open Letter calling on companies and auditors to comply with IASB guidance on reporting on climate-related risks in their financial reports
    • In Brief | The SMH reports that Myer shareholder Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has written to the Myer board calling for (among other things) the board to permanently reduce in size and for directors' fees to also be permanently reduced.  Reportedly, WAM has asked that Myer publicly respond to the requests
       

    Institutional Shareholders and Stewardship Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Stepping up the pressure: BlackRock's stewardship report shows it has increased its overall engagement activity considerably over the past 12 months
    • Report finds most of Australia's largest superannuation funds are acting on climate risk, though a relatively small proportion have gone as far as setting their own net zero emissions targets (so far)
       

    Regulators Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | COVID-19 has not put the brakes on ASIC's enforcement activity: ASIC has released its latest enforcement for H1 2020

    Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Navigation Show below Hide below

    • The Business Roundtable has called on corporate America to take the lead on climate action

    Financial Services Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Loan deferrals: Successful implementation of banks' plans to manage the end of loan deferrals/resumption of loan payments remains a 'critical risk' that needs to proactively managed says APRA
    • Funds must be 'true to label': ASIC directs funds to refer to ASIC's guidance on product labelling following a recent surveillance which identified concerns with the labelling practices of 16 funds
    • AFCA is consulting on proposed rule changes to ensure a smooth transition when the SCT ceases operations at the end of the year
    • How well are general insurers implementing InsurTech? APRA says it will be discussing InsurTech developments with insurers as part of its regular supervisory engagement to ensure appropriate risk management and governance controls are in place
    •  COVID-19: So far funds have paid out $33.3bn under the government's early release of superannuation scheme, the data indicates that the number of applications coming through continues to slow
    •  Allocations in debt capital markets transactions: ASIC report 668 sets out the regulator's expectations of licensees
    • In Brief | ASFA has issued a statement congratulating the government on the success of the one-off superannuation guarantee amnesty: 'In combination with the additional integrity measures legislated early last year, it will help get more money in people’s superannuation accounts for their retirement where it belongs' ASFA states
       

    Risk Management Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | $2.9m fine for misleading conduct relating to disclosure of personal information
    • FinCen has announced a review of AML programs following a largescale leak of historical suspicious activity reports
       

    Restructuring and Insolvency Navigation Show below Hide below

    • In Brief | PPSA consultation: In response to recommendations from the 2014 Statutory Review of the PPS Act, the Attorney General's Department has released a discussion paper seeking feedback from industry on the 'practical impact of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 on the trading of financial products'.  The closing date for submissions is 16 October 2020

    Other News Navigation Show below Hide below

    • The government is consulting on a second tranche of reforms to the FIRB framework, the Property Council of Australia has raised concerns that the proposed changes to fees will discourage institutional investment in commercial property

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    Governance Newsletter Corporate social responsibility & sustainability Diversity Financial Services Governance Institutional Shareholders and Stewardship Non-shareholder stakeholders Overseas perspectives Regulators Restructuring and insolvency Risk management Shareholder activism Short and Long-termism
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