Whether you are a member of the International Corporate Governance Network or not, the fact that you have opened this page on our website suggests you are interested in shareholder responsibilities. This is why we are keen to hear your views on the new Statement of Principles we have produced.

Shareholder responsibility is an important topic attracting growing interest in markets around the world. As we understand more about the rights of shareholders as owners of companies in which they invest, so we realise the importance of exercising those rights responsibly. There are many agents in the investment chain. The core principle is that they must always act in the interest of beneficiaries, but this interest also means having regard to the well being of the company itself.

The ICGN has therefore returned to the subject with an updated version of the Statement it produced in 2003. The new Statement incorporates much of the earlier paper but adds a new section relating to the importance of internal governance among institutional investors. If they are to exercise their responsibilities, they must be equipped to manage conflicts of interest, set high standards of transparency, command the right levels of expertise and resource and have a balanced organisational structure, which permits them to carry out their obligations to beneficiaries.

The Statement is still in draft form, and we now need your help in providing a wide range of comments so that we can refine the text and make sure that it reflects a practical consensus on this important topic. We are keen for your views in three areas:

1. The text itself.
Does it cover the right subjects? Does the drafting make technical sense, or are there aspects of your market practice where what we have proposed could not apply?
2. Can you give us examples of how these issues have been handled in your own market?
The investment chain is complicated and its structure varies from market to market. When we publish the paper we intend to include an annexe (referred to in the draft but not yet completed) giving examples of how different markets have approached these issues. We hope this will be of practical use, but we would like your help in assembling these examples
3. Are there documents of interest available in your market?
We would like to establish a bibliography with hotlinks which would be available on the ICGN website to promote understanding of how these subjects are addressed. An example of the sort of document we want to include is the UK Institutional Shareholder Committee’s Statement of Principles on the Responsibilities of Institutional Shareholders and their Agents.

We would like to have your comments in good time to consider them before the ICGN annual meeting in Washington. At the meeting we will report back on the comments received and invite further discussion. This should form the basis for the final text to be published in late summer. We would therefore welcome your comments.

Please send them by e-mail to consultations@icgn.org to arrive no later than 23 June. Alternatively, you may fax your comments to the ICGN Secretariat on +44 207 612 7034 or post them to ICGN Secretariat, 16 Park Crescent, London W1B 1 AH, UK.

Peter Montagnon
Chair of ICGN's Shareholder Responsibilities Committee