Shareholders' Rights

Background

Shareholders have financial rights in the form of dividends. But they also have other rights associated to their status as owners of companies. These include the right to vote at Annual General Meetings, the right to ask questions at those meetings and also the right to propose resolutions.

Shareholders in the field of SRI consider a good governance framework to be paramount to an accountable economic system, where investors and companies each have their rights, roles and responsibilities towards each other and society. Active SRI shareholders are long term investors who pay particular attention to how extra-financial issues, such as environmental, social, or governance risks, may affect company performance. This attention translates into regular interaction with investee companies and participation in AGMs and voting to the extent that it is possible and there is a proper framework of shareholders rights. However, these rights do not exist in equal terms in each European country and it is particularly difficult to exert these rights across borders.

(see Eurosif’s Active ownership handbook for more details)

For more detail: