Corporate Governance – portrayed in the individual cultural and legal framework, from the standpoint of equity capital.

VIPsight is a dynamic photo archive, sorted by nations and dates, by and for those interested in CG from all over the world.

VIPsight offers, every month:
transparent and independent current information / comments / facts and figures on corporate governance locally and internationally,

• written by local CG experts,
• selected and structured by the Club of Florence,
• financed by its initiator VIP and other sponsors with a background of “Equity and Advisory” interests.

VIPsight - January 2012

COMPANIES

Exchange merger in the balance

The merger of Deutsche Börse with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is possibly threatened with failure. The EU’s competition authorities signaled their concern that a dominant provider of derivatives might arise from the proposed merger in Europe with Eurex and Liffe. Although the merger partners had already agreed in November to sell more parts of the equity-derivatives business if necessary, this offer in turn met with criticism by the Hessian Economics Ministry. more

Politics

New stress test shows gaps

At 115 billion euros, the capital gap that opens up at European banks as a result of simulated failures on government bonds is a veritable hole. Overall, the European Banking Authority EBA scoured the balance sheets of 71 banks at the target date of 30 September 2011, in a newly launched stress test to see the extent to which they must reckon with failures of government securities. more

People

At Allianz, four of the future eleven divisions are to see new appointments. Helga Jung and Gary Bhojwani join the board on 1 January 2012. With Jung, the insurance group takes the first woman onto the board in its 121-year history. Bhojwani, currently CEO of Allianz Life USA, will take over the U.S. insurance division. In addition, Dieter Wemmer takes charge of insurance activities in Western Europe from January. Maximilian Zimmerer takes office only as from 1 June 2012.  currently head of Allianz Life Insurance, he will succeed CFO Paul Achleitner.

more

CAMPUS

Shareholders often in the dark

If a company’s own shareholders have not been identified, investor-relations activities are often ineffective. All the more surprising are the findings of the Investor Relations Panel, in which in the third quarter of 2011 the consulting firm cometis asked IR managers about their knowledge of their company’s shareholders: only two thirds of companies surveyed identify their shareholders. As a reason for the omission, 40 percent of respondents said the costs and benefits were in no reasonable relation. Companies in indices more frequently determine who is among their shareholders than smaller companies. more