After a first successful session of the course for Women on Boards, ESSEC has organised a second session that starts with an introductory evening on the 10th October. Guy Le Pechon, IoD France, amongst many other notable speakers, will be presenting the IoDs views on board member recruitment in the UK. Presentation prepared with Dr Roger Barker, Head of Corporate Governance, IoD. Register for this event for free and the rest of the course at nguyenm@essec.fr.
“It is clear that good corporate governance makes good sense. The name of the game for a company in the 21st Century will be conformed while it performs.” Mervyn King (Chairman: King Report)
On 13th of October 2011From 18:30 – 20:30At the Millenium Suite - The British Embassy35, rue du Faubourg St Honoré / Paris (M°/Parking: Concorde or Madeleine)
For more information and a booking form please click here.
In a lively session which generated a healthy discussion, Emmanuel de la Ville, founder & managing director of Ethifinance, gave an overview of the Ethical rating & investment market since its development in Anglo-Saxon investment circles in the 1980s and its arrival in France at the end of the 1990s to its position today. He explained that behind the official figures of 3% of the French investment market being dedicated to "ethical funds" there is a broader movement of investment managers & companies signing up to Socially Responsible investment choices, which means that in fact this represents now more than 20% of the market.
Emmanuel explained some of the dangers of ethical ratings or investment strategies based on "Best in Class" performance indicators – which he told the audience could push investment managers to pick those companies whose communication on the subject was better, rather than rely on objective criteria. In this context he explained the differences between ratings based on reviews of declarative data (often restricted to analysis of corporate responsibility publications) and a more detailed approach performed by companies such as Ethifinance based on a critical dialogue with boards of directors and detailed objective criteria for ratings.
With some examples of companies who are role models for Corporate Social Responsibility in France, such as Fleury Michon (winner of a 2010 Ethificance CSR award at the Forum de l'investissement Socialement Responsable) and Diana Ingredients, Emmanuel demonstrated that CSR is not about communications budgets but about a new approach to governance, social approach and ethics within companies, and that this can be a driver of success.
How legitimate is the role played by rating agencies and proxy advisers ?
Our speakers were:-Dr Roger Barker, Head of Corporate Governance, Institute of Directors, London-Michel Fender, Head of ESSEC Executive Educative, Paris-Hugues Bouthinon-Dumas, Assistant Professor, Researcher at Law and Economics European Center
with the presence of-Ms Patricia Langohr: author of The Rating Agencies And Their Credit Ratings (with H. Langohr). Chichester( England), 2009
Moderator-Jean-Paul Cossart, Institute of Directors (France)
On May 20, M. Greiling animated a conference on the subject " Women on Boards " at the Hotel Lotti Paris with Guy le Péchon, Gouvernance & Structures, Pascale Marcou, consultant for Catalyst Europe, and Marie-Alix Michel-Denin, lawyer running her own law firm.
All speakers gave us an insight of "Women on Boards" gained from data, analysis and their own working experience. They presented the business impact due to greater presence of women on boards and consequences of some "women quotas" laws and regulations in different European countries.
You can find more information about the conference and the speakers’ profiles in the following brochure
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Meeting with Mr. Vincent de Rivaz, Chief Executive EDF Energy
9th February 2010 at France-Ameriques, 9/11 Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, Paris.
Mr. Vincent de Rivaz shared his EDF's experiences in the UK energy sector and projects with British Energy. He explained how he had coped with the cultural challenges of a big French public company service willing to enter a strong free market and the management differences between France and the UK.
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As a member you are automatically assigned a branch and encouraged to give your views on local issues and take advantage of networking opportunities in your area. All members are welcome to attend events at any branch.