ICGN 2024 Annual Conference, London Agenda

Hotel GM Remarks & Sustainability Partner

Ian Burger, Chair, ICGN Board of Governors, UK

Professor Michael Mainelli, Lord Mayor of the City of London, UK 

AI presents both extraordinary opportunities for today’s companies, as well as risks and challenges that company boards and management teams must be able to understand and address. What does responsible development and use of Artificial Intelligence look like? What are the implications for human capital? What do investors expect of companies in terms of oversight, strategy, risk management and reporting?
 

• Christine Chow, Vice-chair, ICGN Board of Governors, UK
• Klaus Moosmayer, Chief Ethics, Risk & Compliance Officer, Novartis, Switzerland 
• Judy Wade, Head of Strategy Execution and Relationship Management, CPP Investments, USA

Moderator: Nicholas Beale, Chair, Lord Mayor’s Ethical AI Initiative, UK

Carmine Di Noia, Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD, France

 The decline in number of company listings is a source of concern for investors and regulators alike. What is the right ecosystem to motivate companies to go public? What are the key factors that determine where a company chooses to list? What can European economies learn from their Asian and American neighbors in attracting IPOs? Are we seeing a regulatory race-to-the-bottom to attract listings?   

• Rients Abma, Executive Director, Eumedion, Netherlands
• Per Einar Ellefsen, Co-Founder and CEO, Amundsen, France 
• Jenn Hui-Tan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Fidelity, Singapore 

Moderator: John Plender,  Senior Editorial Columnist, Financial Times, UK

The ESG reporting and assurance landscape is evolving at lightning speed, with impacted stakeholders grappling to keep pace with the changes that are coming, or already here in some jurisdictions. With the EU, ISSB and US SEC all setting their own standards and frameworks, concerns about regulatory fragmentation remain. Join us for a panel discussion where experts representing investors, regulators, board members and those providing assurance will shed light on the evolving expectations surrounding ESG reporting and assurance, including board and audit committee oversight, reasonable vs limited assurance over ESG data, the potential increase in modified opinions and how to address the evolving landscape and new market trends (ie. Assurance readiness, internal and external assurance, etc.).  

This discussion will equip participants with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the complex terrain of ESG reporting and assurance effectively, as well as feature new insights on market readiness from the 2024 edition of KPMG’s ESG Assurance Maturity Index.  

Hosted by KPMG

Ian Burger, Chair, ICGN Board of Governors, UK

Rt. Hon. Jesse Norman MP, UK 

Robert A.G. Monks, Pioneering Practitioner and leading author in Corporate Governance

An effective system of corporate governance is reliant on the ability of investors to exercise their share-ownership rights in holding corporate boards and management to account in promoting the long-term success of the company. This basic principle is under threat with regressive proposals in many markets which serve to undermine investor influence, for example though dual class share structures, removal of voting rights for related party/ significant transactions, or introduction of virtual only AGMs. What can be done to reverse this negative trend? How are shareholder rights upheld? What may be the effect on markets choosing to weaken shareholder protections? 

• Richard Adeniyi-Jones, Engagement Manager, Federated Hermes EOS, UK 
• Caroline Escott, Head of Sustainable Ownership, Railpen, UK
• Deborah Gilshan, Head of ESG and Stewardship, AustralianSuper, UK
• Nadia Zainuddin, General Manager, Corporate Governance, Securities Commission Malaysia, Malaysia 

Moderator: Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din, Chief Executive Officer, Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance, UAE

Sponsored by Nestlé

Can social and economic inequalities be considered as a systemic risk by investors? Are there existing standards that companies should be using when approaching these issues?  What should investors expect from company boards?

• David Frick, Senior Vice President, Corporate Governance, Compliance and Corporate Services, Nestlé S.A., Switzerland
• Michael Herskovich, Global Head of Stewardship, BNP Paribas Asset Management, France 
• Paul Rissman, Co-Founder, Rights CoLab, USA 

Moderator: Susanne Stormer, Partner, ESG & Sustainability Services Leader, PwC, Denmark

Remuneration should be designed to equitably and effectively align the interests of the CEO, executive officers and workforce with a company’s strategy and purpose to help ensure long-term sustainable value preservation and creation. Can we move away from complex and opaque executive remuneration structures? What do investors expect from company boards setting executive pay? What are the differences across markets? What is the appropriate remuneration package to attract the best executive talent? At the same time, how do we ensure that these pay packages are defendable in light of social considerations relating to income inequality?

• Robert Lewenson, Head of Responsible Investment, Old Mutual Investment Group, South Africa
• Karina Litvak, Non-Executive Director, Terna S.p.A. Italy

Moderatpr: Lindsey Stewart, Director of Investment Stewardship Research, Morningstar, UK

Session A: Hosted by Pomerantz LLP

Session B: TBC

Session C: TBC

Jen Sisson, CEO, ICGN, UK

Jen Sisson, CEO, ICGN, UK

Over the past 12 months, both the IAASB and IESBA have published new standards on sustainability related assurance to enhance trust and confidence in investors around corporate reporting. ICGN published an Investor Viewpoint on this topic. Hear from leaders about the proposed IAASB’s General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements; IESBA’s Exposure Draft on Ethics Standards for Sustainability Reporting and Assurance and investors’ expectations.

• Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, Chair, IESBA, USA 
• Sue Lloyd, Vice Chair, ISSB, UK 
• Tom Seidenstein, Chair, IAASB, USA 

Moderator: David Madon, Director, Sustainability, Policy & Regulatory Affairs, International Federation of Accountants, USA

Sponsored by Nestlé

Richard Moriarty, CEO, Financial Reporting Council, UK

As the UK reels from one of its worst corporate miscarriages of justice in decades following the Post Office scandal, the importance of strong corporate culture and robust internal controls is front and center of governance debate. To what extent do companies live up to glossy corporate value statements? How does this translate into high standards of moral and ethical behavior? How can boards ensure high standards of corporate culture and effectiveness internal control systems? How are governance codes and standards evolving in this regard?  How do investors assess culture and internal controls in their stewardship processes?

• Chuck Canfield, Principal Corporate Governance Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), USA
• Annabel Gillard, International Advisory Council Member, The Institute of Business Ethics, UK
• Peter Swabey, Policy and Research Director, Chartered Governance Institute, UK and Ireland 

Moderator: Cristina Ungureanu, Governance Manager, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar 

• Session D: Pension Funds’ Toolkit for Advancing Corporate Governance and Sustainability in their Investments, hosted by Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP

The panel will discuss the experience pension funds, including UK pension funds, have had in advancing corporate governance and sustainability through, among other tools, shareholder litigation around the world. Shareholder litigation has increasingly become part of the “toolkit” available to pension funds as a mechanism to advance proper corporate governance and sustainability in the companies they invest in. While shareholder suits remain a powerful means to recover for corporate fraud, they also are a tool by which funds can monitor their investment portfolio to ensure it is aligned with their broader goals as fiduciaries. In addition, derivative actions—where investors sue “on behalf of” a company they are invested in to reform the company itself—are increasingly used to advance sustainable and responsible investing goals. 

How do these actions accomplish such goals?  How can institutional investors monitor alignment with their responsibilities and goals and use U.S. securities actions to advance them? What lessons can be learned from U.S. pension funds pursuing these actions?  This interactive session will explore these themes through discussion of recent examples and hypotheticals.

• Session E: Hosted by States United Democracy Center and States Democracy Defenders
• Session F:

Sponsored by Nestlé

 

The role ofthe board to provide strategic guidance, risk oversight, and effective monitoring of management’s plans and performance in promoting the long-term success of the company. The recently revised G20-OECD Corporate Governance Principles includes an entirely new chapter on ‘sustainability and resilience’. What does this mean in practice for the role, structure and functioning of the board? How has it changed the narrative between companies and investors? Boards and shareholders have a common interest in engaging in constructive dialogue around a company’s strategy, performance, sustainability and resilience. How do we ensure that this dialogue is strategic and focused on issues of direct relevance to the company?

• Liselotte Engstam, Non-executive Board Director, Sweden 
• Andy Griffiths, Executive Director, The Investor Forum CIC, UK
• Junichiro Sano, Senior Advisor, Dalton Investments, Chief Liaison Officer of the Japan Association of Corporate Directors (JACD),  Japan
• Wilhelm Mohn, Global Head of Corporate Governance, Norges Bank Investment Management, UK

Moderator: Severine Neervoort, Global Policy Director, ICGN, Italy