Conference Programme

Delegate Registration 8:00am - 7:00pm

(available all day on the 3rd Floor)

ICGN Committee Meetings 10:00am - 4:00pm

(Members only)

10:00 - 11:00     Remuneration Committee, Ted White

                         Finance Committee, Chris Ailman

                        ICGN Corporate Governance Principles Review Working Group, Paul Lee

11:00 - 12:00     Nomination Committee, Bill Crist

                         Shareholder Rights, Michelle Edkins and Cross-border Voting Practices Committee, John               Wilcox                         

12:00 - 13:00     Bylaws and Procedures Committee, Léo Goldshmidt

                          2010 ICGN Annual Conference, Toronto Planning Committee, David R. Beatty O.B.E.

                          Non-financial Business Reporting Committee, Frank Curtiss

13:00 - 14:00     ICGN Member Networking Lunch

14:00 - 15:00     Accounting and Auditing Practices Committee, Frédéric Gielen & Lou Moret    

                         Shareholder Responsibilities Committee, Simon Wong

                         Membership Committee, Carl Rosén

15:00 - 16:00     ICGN Awards Committee, Sandra Guerra   

                         Country Correspondents, Mike Lubrano

                         ICGN Foundation Meeting, Mark Anson

                         Anti-corruption Practices Working Group, David Pitt-Watson

Refreshments 3:45pm - 4:15pm

Opening Session 4:15pm - 5:25pm

Peter Montagnon

Welcome to New South Wales

The Hon. Linda Burney, MLA, Minister for Community Affairs, New South Wales Government

Aboriginal Welcome to Australia

Clarence Stockee, Aboriginal Education Officer, Australia

Australia Introduction to the Minister for Finance

Michael O'Sullivan, President, Australian Council of Superannuation Investors

Conference opening

The Hon. Lindsay Tanner MP, Minister for Finance, Australia

Confrence Introduction

Peter Montagnon, Chairman, ICGN

World Economic Forum and ICGN Overview of Global Corporate Governance Agenda 5:25pm - 6:45pm

Gareth Shepherd

Jim Quigley

Belinda Gibson

Where did globalisation go wrong and what do we need to do about it?

Introduction

Gareth Shepherd, World Economic Forum, USA 

Opening remarks

Jules Muis, Former Vice President and Controller, World Bank, USA

Response

Belinda Gibson, Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Stephen Haddrill, Director General, Association of British Insurers, UK

Chief Executive Officer designate UK Financial Reporting Council

Member of the International Accounting Standards Board Financial Crisis Advisory Group

Hasung Jang, Dean and Professor of Finance, Korea University Business School

James H. Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, USA

Moderator

Peter Montagnon, Director of Investment Affairs, ABI, UK

Welcome Reception 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Hilton Hotel, Sydney

Welcome

Martha Carter, Head, Global Research, Risk Metrics, USA

Fiona Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees

Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor, New South Wales

The New Financial Landscape: What will be the phoenix to rise from the ashes? 9:00am - 10:00pm

Ethiopis Tafara

Tatsuya Tamura

Ethiopis Tafara, Director, Office of International Affairs, Securities and Exchange Commission, USA

Tatsuya Tamura, Chairman, Japan Independent Directors Network

Mike Lubrano, Managing Director for Corporate Governance, Cartica Capital, USA

Antonio Borges, Former Partner, Goldman Sachs, Portugal

Chairman of the Hedge Fund Working Group and the European Corporate Governance Institute

John Trowbridge, Member of the Executive Board, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

Moderator

David R. Beatty O.B.E., Conway Director, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Refreshments 10:00am - 10:30am

Shareholders: What next for shareholder responsibility? 10:30am - 11:45am

Gilberto Mifano

Simon Wong

Michael Murray

Elizabeth Bryan

Did shareholders contribute to the financial crisis? How can corporate governance become part of the solution to building sustainable and stable financial markets? Where does the financial crisis leave long-term shareholders and the role of governance? Have investors encouraged riskier behaviours in their own pursuit of returns and do they adequately look at the risk/reward equation?

Breakout Sessions: How do we remove the barriers to improving corporate governance? 11:45am - 12:45pm

Sandra Guerra

Andrea Di Segni

Simon Osborne

Ted White

John Wilcox

Svetlana Borodina

Michelle Edkins

Giulia Paone

Delegates can choose from one of the following sessions to come up with proposals for reform:

(1) Conflicts of interest

As in all areas of business individuals have to deal with making choices.  Sometimes making the right choice is difficult because of personal self interest or the interest of greater powers.  For example, would pension fund trustees champion good governance if the FD of the sponsoring company (with poor governance) is on the trustee board?  Would investment managers vote against poor remuneration structures if they themselves were paid inappropriately? Are investors contributing to the problem by rewarding the wrong things in their managers? Are the conflicts along the chain of accountability obstructing the progress of good governance?  What are some of the major conflicts that need to be addressed?  Should there be regulatory intervention or can the markets resolve these conflicts?

Moderator

Ann Byrne, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of Superannuation Investors

Provocateur

Svetlana Borodina, the Director of Corporate Governance Services at Standard & Poor's

Provocateur

Paul Lee, Director, Hermes Equity Ownership Service, UK

(2) Shareholder rights

Very few shareholders would disagree that with more rights they would be more able to hold management to account and in this way the market can impose the checks and balances required to keep management in check. In the US and some other jurisdictions there is still the view that the more shareholders can intervene, the more we take away the freedom of management to make the commercial and financial decisions required to keep the company competitive. What is the right balance? Is it always a good thing for shareholders to get more rights? What are the boundaries - i.e. how do you identify what is too much or too few rights? Does this differ between different jurisdictions? What are the essential shareholder rights and which ones are less important?

Moderator

Michelle Edkins, Managing Director, Governance For Owners, UK

Provocateur

Robert McCormick, Chief Policy Officer, Glass Lewis, USA

Provocateur

Jeffrey Davis, Esq., Senior Legal Counsel, Investments, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada Robert McCormick, Chief Policy Officer, Glass Lewis, USA

Provocateur

Andrea Di Segni, Head of Operations, Sodali, Italy

(3) Cross border voting barriers

Those of us who have tried to vote globally have experienced the frustrations involved with the complexity of the process. Different jurisdictions have different legal requirements for voting, custodians and sub-custodians dont seem to have any real responsibility for their role in the process, large parts of the process is still manual. We have been talking about this for more than a decade - why are we not making any progress? How do we facilitate change? What changes need to be made? Should there be harmonisation of regulation globally?

Moderator

John Wilcox, Chairman, Sodali Ltd., USA

Provocateur

Giulia Paone, Research Associate, Lindenauer Center for Corporate Governance, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, USA

Provocateur

Deborah Gilshan, Corporate Governance Counsel, Railpen Investments, UK

Provocateur

Brian Keogh, Director Operations and Markets, NAB Asset Servicing (National Custodians) National Australia Bank

(4) What is good governance? Should we be reviewing what really counts?

It has long been the expectation that where there is good governance companies are more likely to generate better returns. Yet, after all this time, there are still differences of opinion on the value of good governance as we understand it. Is it really working? Companies with apparently poor governance e.g. entrenched family members on boards, anti-takeover defences appear to be no less successful than companies that give their shareholders greater rights. What is the evidence on the value of good governance? What is good governance - are we missing something? What has the recent economic crisis taught us? Could a barrier be that shareholders do not understand what good governance looks like?

Moderator

Simon Osborne, Joint Head of ICSA Board Evaluation, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, UK

Provocateur

Julie Hudson, Head of Socially Responsible Investment, Equity Research, UBS, UK

Provocateur

Stephen Davis, Policy Director, Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and performance, USA

(5) Remuneration

Poor remuneration practices have been blamed as contributing to the current economic malais. Was it just easy to point fingers at apparently grossly overpaid executives who have led the world into crisis or did remuneration really play a part? Why is it that executives are still being given huge pay offs for poor performance - how do we improve the linkage of interests between boards and shareholders? Is it just shareholders that need to be considered in linkage of interests - what about considering the pay and condition of employees in setting board pay? What are some of the solutions to ensuring that, in future, boards and senior executives are being appropriately incentivised to behave in the best long term interests of their companies?

Moderator

Sandra Guerra, Principal, Better Governance, Brazil

Provocateur

Sean O'Hare, Partner, Human Resource Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Provocateur

Ted White, Chief Operating Officer, Knight Vinke Asset Management, LLC, USA

Lunch 12:45pm - 2:00pm

Breakout Sessions: How do we remove the barriers to improving corporate governance? 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Anita Skipper

Delegates hear recommendations for action from breakout sessions and vote on the conclusions.

Moderator

Anita Skipper, Head of Corporate Governance, Aviva Investors, UK

Shareholder - Board Communication: is it the answer? 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Taiji Okusu

Colin Melvin

This session will discuss the need for dialogue with long term owners. Is there adequate expertise on boards and committees when things move rapidly and even the experts may not understand the new financial products in play? Are these directors able to independently assess what is in front of them? How can better shareholder communication build bridges between owners and companies?

Global Dialogue

Kevin McCann, Chair, Origin Energy Limited, Australia

Charnchai Charuvastr, President, Thai Institute of Directors Association

Colin Melvin, CEO, Hermes Equity Ownership Services Ltd, UK

Taiji Okusu, Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking Japan, Credit Suisse Securities

Moderator

Christy Wood, Chief Executive Officer, Capital Z Asset Management, USA

Refreshments 4:00pm - 4:30pm

Hot Topic Workshops: What is driving corporate governance change? 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Christine O'Reilly

Jamie Allen

Selvarany Rasiah

Gary Anderson

Peter Butler

Frank Curtiss

Devin Lamb

Jane Ambachtsheer

Delegates share experience and develop knowledge on new drivers for change in corporate governance. Delegates can choose one from the following four workshops:

(1) What is the future for alternative investments post crisis?

Moderator

Christine O'Reilly, Head of Infrastructure Asset Management, Colonial First State Global Asset Management, Australia

Speakers

Garry Weaven, Chair, Industry Funds Management, Australia

Jane Ambachtsheer, National Partner of Mercer’s investment consulting business and Head, Global Responsible Investment, Mercer, Canada

(2) Controlling shareholders and protecting minority investor rights

Moderator

Mavis Robertson, Chair, Special Projects Committee, AIST, Australia, Member of the governing body of ACSI

Speakers

David Feffer, CEO of Suzano Holding and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Suzano Pulp and Paper, Brazil

Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Regulatory Officer, Bursa Malaysia Berhad

Rients Abma, Executive Director, Eumedion, The Netherlands

Md. Rashedur Rahman, Senior Research Associate, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Inaugural ARG Scholar & ICGN Foundation Scholar 2008  

(3) Engagement and activist strategies - What are the ingredients for success or failure? 

Moderator

Jamie Allen, Secretary General, Asian Corporate Governance   Association, Hong Kong

Speakers

Dr Dominique Biedermann, Executive Director, Ethos Foundation, Switzerland

Frank Curtiss, Head of Corporate Governance, Railpen Investments, UK

Devin Lamb, Partner, Taiyo Pacific Partners LP, USA

(4) How can shareholders make sure boards are on top of risk management?

Moderator

Fiona Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees

Speakers

Peter Butler, Founder & CEO, Governance for Owners LLP, UK

David R. Beatty O.B.E., Conway Director, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Gary Anderson, Managing Director, Protiviti, Australia

Stuart Bassett, Asia Pacific head, Marsh Risk Consulting

(5) Shareholder litigation

Does the financial crisis change the shareholder litigation strategy? Can corporate governance procedures be changed as part of a settlement? What is the latest for non-US- investors in American class action cases?

Moderator

Richard Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, The Corporate Library, USA

Speakers

Bernard Murphy, Chairman of the Board, Maurice Blackburn, Australia

Alexander Reus, Managing Partner, DRRT, a division of Diaz Reus & Targ, LLP, Germany

John Kehoe, Partner, Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check, LLP , USA

Dinner 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Hilton Hotel, Sydney

Welcome Address 7:35pm - 7:50pm

TBA

Hot Topic Feedback 8:20am - 9:00am

Moderator

Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital LLC, USA and Program Director, IRRC Institute, USA

Regulation : An enabler or a deterrent? 9:00am - 10:20am

Mary Schapiro

9:00am - 9:20am

Video link with Mary Schapiro, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

9:20am - 10:20am

Global Dialogue

Thomas T Murphy, Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Family Office Research & Management Pty Ltd, Australia

Carol Hansell, Senior Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Dr Nik Ramlah Mahmood, Managing Director, Securities Commission Malaysia

Moderator

Chris Ailman, Chief Investment Officer, CalSTRS, USA

Refreshments 10:20am - 10:50am

Rise of the state as owner: reluctant capitalists? 10:50am - 12:00pm

Carl Rosén

Damon Silvers

The financial crisis is still unfolding and gradually a larger proportion of the global financial industry is becoming state-owned. How are the new owners getting organized? What are the implications on executive compensation in the banks owned buy state-controlled entities and the others? What does the exit strategy look like? What are the effects on corporate governance? And how should other investors react?

Global Dialogue

Mark Anson, President and Executive Director of Investment Services at Nuveen Investments, USA

Knut Kjaer, President, RiskMetrics Group, Norway

Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel, AFL-CIO, USA

Member of the Congressional Oversight committee for the TARP

Moderator

Carl Rosén, Head of corporate governance and communications Second Swedish National Pension Fund, Sweden

Keynote Address 12:00pm - 12:35pm

Al Gore

Introduction

Al Gore, Former Vice President, USA
Cofounder and Chairman, Generation Investment Management

Joint session with UNPRI - Sustainability: Managing in a world of extra financial risk 12:00pm - 1:15pm

This is a deciding year when it comes to climate change issues. The UN-led multilateral conference in Copenhagen in December will negotiate a new Kyoto protocol aiming to curb the emission of carbon dioxide. What are the impacts for long-term investors? How should they respond? What are the biggest challenges to long-term sustainability?

Global Dialogue 12:35pm - 1:15pm

Amanda McCluskey

Rachel Kyte

Professor Mervyn King

Professor Mervyn King, Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative, South Africa
Member of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the Global Corporate Governance Forum

Rachel Kyte, Vice President, Business Advisory Services, IFC, World Bank Group, USA

Abe Friedman, Managing Director, Global Head of Corporate Governance & Proxy Voting, Barclays Global Investors, USA

Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager, CalPERS, USA

Moderator

Amanda McCluskey, Head of Sustainability and Responsible Investment, Colonial First State Global Asset Management, Australia

Farewells 1:15pm - 1:30pm

David R. Beatty

Closing Remarks and Thanks

Peter Montagnon, Chairman, ICGN

Welcome to ICGN 2010, Toronto

David R. Beatty O.B.E., Conway Director, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Lunch 1:30pm - 2:30pm

ICGN 2009 Annual General Meeting 2:30pm - 4:30pm

Post Conference Drinks 4:30pm - 5:30pm