The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) held its annual conference in Sydney, Australia this week, drawing together 420 delegates from 37 countries. The conference, billed as “The Route Map to Reform and Recovery,” centered around a number of corporate governance issues such as proxy voting and risk assessment.
Highlights from the three-day event include:
- A taped presentation by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro regarding the role of proxy advisory firms, as well as new procedural guidelines surrounding director nominations and securities lending.
- The replacement of ICGN Chairman Peter Montagnon by former California Public Employees’ Retirement System Senior Investment Officer Christianna Wood.
- Creation of a task force to address corporate board risk oversight
- The presentation of the ICGN Award to Swiss governance fund Ethos for its successes in convincing UBS to adopt say on pay measures.
The ICGN will next meet on November 18 and 19 in Washington DC. 2010 meetings include March 4 and 5 in London and next year’s annual meeting on June 28 through 30 in Toronto.