Category: ICGN updates

Assurance of sustainability reporting – what do investors need to be thinking about?

It might not be the most glamorous topic, but audit and assurance are unsung heroes of corporate governance.

If investors want to be able to use sustainability-related financial information in a similar way to traditional financial reporting, to fully integrate it into investment decisions and stewardship activities, then we need companies to prepare it in a similar way. Companies need to have appropriate processes and controls in place, with good governance oversight and sign off from the board, and we need high quality assurance of that information to build trust in the data.

Follow-up of Japan’s Stewardship Code and Japan’s Corporate Governance Code

Led by investors responsible for assets under management of $77 trillion, ICGN is a global authority on the highest standards of corporate governance and investor stewardship. These standards are defined in ICGN’s Global Governance Principles and Global Stewardship Principles. As such, our commentary is based on these standards, together with ICGN’s Japan Governance Recommendations.

ICGN Investor Viewpoint – Artificial Intelligence: An Engagement Guide

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents both extraordinary opportunities and complexities for today’s companies. The OECD defines an AI system as “a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments”.

ICGN Governance Recommendations for the United States

The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) is pleased to publish its Governance Recommendations for the United States (U.S.) at the ICGN Conference, hosted by the International Finance Corporation, in Washington, D.C., from 7-8 March 2024.

ICGN Statement on High Standards of Corporate Governance and Investor Protections as Pre-requisites for UK Capital Market Competitiveness and Growth

The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) is concerned by recent announcements in the UK which may be detrimental to corporate governance standards and shareholder protections, thereby undermining the UK’s economic growth and attractiveness as a global financial centre, and with potentially significant implications for pensioners, insurance and retail investors’ savings.

ICGN response to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on the Corporate Governance of Financial Institutions

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ICGN response to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on the Corporate Governance of Financial Institutions

Will Farrell

Federated Hermes
Assistant Manager, EOS
London

Will co-leads the climate change theme at EOS, the stewardship arm of Federated Hermes Limited, where his coverage includes companies in Europe and Australia, primarily financial services, energy, chemicals, and materials. Prior to joining EOS, Will worked in the energy and infrastructure investment banking team at Macquarie Capital, where he specialised in renewable energy. Before that, Will held a number of roles across the UK climate policy space, including as a parliamentary researcher for Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore MP on climate and energy issues, and as a climate and economic policy analyst at a diplomatic institute. He was appointed as a voluntary adviser to Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, on preparations for COP26 after co-founding a Westminster climate policy group in 2019, which engaged MPs and Members of the House of Lords to advocate for more ambition on climate action in public policy. Will has a Bachelor’s degree (1st Class Honours) in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.