The CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity has published a manual to assist investors in understanding their rights in 22 of the largest markets in the world and to reinforce the correlation between strong shareowner rights and lower costs of equity capital.

“Especially in the current financial market turmoil, many investors seek diversification of risk and return opportunities by investing outside of their home markets,” said Kurt Schacht, managing director of the CFA Institute Centre. “Anyone who invests internationally will find this manual useful because, with each country, we looked at a standard set of investor concerns such as the election and independence of board members, proxy voting procedures, share ownership limitations, lawsuits, and compensation.”

Shareowner Rights across the Markets: A Manual for Investors is a companion to The Corporate Governance of Listed Companies: A Manual for Investors, and is designed to help investment professionals and investors around the world better understand their rights as shareowners in the major developed and developing markets around the world. “This manual will allow investors, regulators, and other interested parties to benchmark shareowner rights in markets of interest,” added Schacht.

The Shareowner Rights Manual is structured to give readers easy access to information about their basic rights as shareowners, as well as customary practices in markets in which they invest.

The manual reviews the rights shareowners enjoy in 10 developed markets and 12 developing markets, and provides a table listing basic shareowner rights in each market.

It also reviews current investor engagement practices and recent events, addresses the legal and regulatory environments in each market, and provides a list of online resources dealing with shareowner rights in each market.

“The Shareowner Rights Manual will help investors understand the risks or opportunities in any of these markets with regard to their rights within the legal, regulatory, and governance standards in that market. Without that knowledge, an investor is investing with incomplete information,” said Matt Orsagh, project manager for the Shareowner Rights Manual and senior policy analyst at the CFA Institute Centre.

IE