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    Governance News 25 March 2020

    60 minute read  24.03.2020 Mark Standen, Siobhan Doherty, Kate Hilder

    This week's news features coverage of: a) ASIC's guidance on AGMs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic; b) the joint AGM guidance issued by the Governance Institute, AIRA and the Law Council of Australia; c) the announcements by APRA and ASIC that they have shifted their priorities to focus on COVID-19 challenges; d) the release by BlackRock of its 2020 stewardship priorities; and d) coverage of actions being taken by business, government and by regulators in response to the COVID-19 threat.

     

    Full coverage of this weeks content is now available


    Past issues are available

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    https://www.minterellison.com/articles/governance-news-25-march-2020

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    Remuneration Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Force global banks to suspend bonuses and payouts?  Former Chair of the US FDIC argues that taking this step could help prevent the need for future public bailouts
    • Santander Chair becomes the first European financial executive to take a reduction in pay in response to COVID-19

    Shareholder activism Navigation Show below Hide below

    • The ACCR plans to continue to engage on climate issues at upcoming AGMs: 'the climate challenge has become no less significant and no less urgent' in light of the COVID-19 pandemic' ACCR states
    • The ACCR has announced that it has withdrawn a climate resolution ahead of the Rio Tinto AGM following successful engagement with the company 
    • The FT reports that activist Carl Icahn looks to have secured two board seats as part of a settlement being finalised with Occidental 
    • The WSJ reports that Impala is pushing for board representation at Harley Davidson 

    Institutional shareholders and stewardship Navigation Show below Hide below

    • United States | Asset manager support for shareholder initiated ESG resolutions has risen to 46% in the last five years according to analysis by Morningstar
    • BlackRock has announced its five 2020 engagement priorities and accompanying KPIs
    • India | SBI Funds Management adopts stewardship code as mandated by Sebi

    Meetings and proxy advisers Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | ASIC guidelines for AGMs in a COVID-19 environment
    • Guidance on the available options: The Governance Institute, AIRA and the Law Council of Australia have released AGM guidance 
    • Glass Lewis has updated its US and Canadian guidelines on virtual AGMs in light of COVID-19 
    • Santos shareholders to attend AGM via webcast because of COVID-19

    Disclosure and reporting Navigation Show below Hide below

    • UK listed companies asked to observe a two week (or longer) 'moratorium' on the publication of preliminary financial statement

    Markets and exchanges Navigation Show below Hide below

    • NYSE to (temporarily) move to fully electronic trading because of COVID-19

    Regulators Navigation Show below Hide below

    • APRA has paused the majority of planned policy/supervision initiatives to focus instead on monitoring the impact of COVID-19
    • APRA has announced a six month suspension of the APRA Connect data collection solution project
    • ASIC to shift regulatory focus to prioritise COVID-19 challenges 
    • AFCA will modify its approach to dispute resolution because of the impact of COVID-19
    • RBA has announced will establish a temporary swap line for the provision of US dollar liquidity with the US Federal Reserve 
    • RBNZ confirms that cash and other payment systems are 'ready for COVID-19'  
    • In Brief | APRA has released a request to all ADIs and registered financial corporations to extend the parallel run period for the Economic and Financial Statistics data collection to the June 2020 quarter in order to maintain a consistent data source for the March and June 2020 quarters during the current period of uncertainty, and to capture the impact of COVID-19

    Financial Services Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | Latest COVID-19 Government stimulus package: new support for business
    • Top Story | Covid-19: Government helps the securitisation industry and non-bank lenders compete
    • The legislative package to implement the government's economic response to COVID-19 has passed both houses
    • SME relief package: Banks to defer loan repayments for six months for small businesses 
    • APRA to contact banks to advise of the specific reporting treatment for loans subject to COVID-19 support arrangements  
    • Quantitative easing: The RBA has announced a range of measures to support the economy through the disruption caused by COVID-19
    • Australian Office of Financial Management to invest $15 billion in wholesale funding markets used by smaller banks and non-ADI lenders
    • APRA adjusts bank capital expectations in light of COVID-19: APRA tells lenders it's OK not to meet  'unquestionably strong' capital levels (provided minimum capital requirements are met) 
    • What to expect in the next update to the MySuper heatmap: APRA has released new MySuper Heatmap FAQs
    • In Brief| The senate economics legislation committee has recommended that Treasury Laws Amendment (Your Superannuation, Your Choice) Bill 2019 be passed.  The Committee also recommended that a review be conducted in two years and the government 'considers changes as suggested by submitters to further improve superannuation arrangements'
    • In Brief | As part of a financial support package for home owners and businesses affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19, the RBNZ has announced a six month principal and interest payment holiday for affected mortgage holders and SME customers 
    • In Brief | The Bank of England has announced a number of measures aimed at alleviating operational burdens on PRA-regulated firms and Bank-regulated financial market infrastructures in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak including suspending all stress testing for major banks for 2020

    Risk management Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Responding to the impacts of COVID-19: MinterEllison's insights
    • COVID-19: Pandemic planning for APRA regulated entities
    • The WSJ reports that most US directors believe they already have effective crisis plans in place

    Corporate misconduct and liability Navigation Show below Hide below

    • United Kingdom | The High Pay Centre argues that government assistance to large companies should be conditional 

    Restructuring and insolvency Navigation Show below Hide below

    • Top Story | COVID-19: Putting Safe Harbour in the spotlight
    • Six month safe harbour: Temporary relief for directors in response to the coronavirus

    Other news Navigation Show below Hide below

    • NSW enacts emergency measures Bill in response to COVID-19
    • In Brief | Federal Budget deferred: The government has decided to defer the 2020-21 Budget until 6 October 2020 to provide more time for the economic and fiscal impacts of COVID-19 to be better understood.  Announcing the decision, the Treasurer and Minister for Finance said that the extra time will enable the government to 'maintain its focus on dealing with the immediate health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic' 

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    Governance Newsletter Corporate social responsibility & sustainability Financial Services Governance Institutional Shareholders and Stewardship Meetings & Proxy Advisors Overseas perspectives Regulators Remuneration Restructuring and insolvency Risk management Shareholder activism
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