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Editorial comment.

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorPrickett, Ruth

As FM goes to press, shareholder relations have again hit the headlines. Corporate investors, led by US fund manager Fidelity, have refused to accept Michael Green as executive chairman of a newly merged ITV (formerly Granada and Carlton). Their concerns stemmed partly from Green's past problems at Carlton, such as the failure of ITV Digital, and partly from corporate governance issues--appointing a former CEO as chairman is contrary to Derek Higgs' recommendations in his report on the role of non-executive directors.

Shareholder militancy has increased noticeably over the past year, prompted by falling equity values and concerns over the scandals at Enron and WorldCom. Businesses have responded by talking more loudly about "transparency" and "honesty", but words alone are not enough. There are things that companies can do to make a real difference to their relationship with shareholders and reduce the chances of having to spring unpleasant surprises on them. If you want to find out more about what leading businesses are doing, why not attend CIMA's annual conference on 12-13 November (page 8)?

One area that many investors are becoming increasingly concerned about (apart from profits, of course) is the environment--and their concerns are filtering into mainstream regulations. The operating and financial review includes recommendations for voluntary reports on social and environmental responsibility, and the government has introduced a number of vehicles through which companies can save money by going green (page 12). Firms that manage to improve their environmental performance and report this in a way that demonstrates the value to...

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