Book contents
- Endorsements
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Foundations
- Part II Jurisdictions
- 4 Shareholder Stewardship in the Netherlands
- 5 Capitalist Stakeholders
- 6 Institutional Investor Stewardship in Italian Corporate Governance
- 7 The Danish Stewardship Code
- 8 Stewardship Norwegian-Style
- 9 Stewardship and Shareholder Engagement in Germany
- 10 The Japanese Stewardship Code
- 11 Korea’s Stewardship Code and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
- 12 The Assessment of Taiwan’s Shareholder Stewardship Codes
- 13 Stewardship in the Hong Kong International Financial Centre
- 14 Singapore’s Embrace of Shareholder Stewardship
- 15 Institutional Investor Stewardship in Malaysia
- 16 The Thai Institutional Investors Stewardship Code and Its Implementation
- 17 Shareholder Stewardship in India
- 18 Institutional Investors in China
- 19 Stewardship and Collective Action
- 20 Stewardship Principles in Canada
- 21 The Uncertain Stewardship Potential of Index Funds
- 22 Encouraging Sustainable Investment in South Africa
- 23 Stewardship in Kenya
- 24 The Brazilian Stewardship Framework
- Part III Comparisons
- Index
9 - Stewardship and Shareholder Engagement in Germany
from Part II - Jurisdictions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2022
- Endorsements
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Foundations
- Part II Jurisdictions
- 4 Shareholder Stewardship in the Netherlands
- 5 Capitalist Stakeholders
- 6 Institutional Investor Stewardship in Italian Corporate Governance
- 7 The Danish Stewardship Code
- 8 Stewardship Norwegian-Style
- 9 Stewardship and Shareholder Engagement in Germany
- 10 The Japanese Stewardship Code
- 11 Korea’s Stewardship Code and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
- 12 The Assessment of Taiwan’s Shareholder Stewardship Codes
- 13 Stewardship in the Hong Kong International Financial Centre
- 14 Singapore’s Embrace of Shareholder Stewardship
- 15 Institutional Investor Stewardship in Malaysia
- 16 The Thai Institutional Investors Stewardship Code and Its Implementation
- 17 Shareholder Stewardship in India
- 18 Institutional Investors in China
- 19 Stewardship and Collective Action
- 20 Stewardship Principles in Canada
- 21 The Uncertain Stewardship Potential of Index Funds
- 22 Encouraging Sustainable Investment in South Africa
- 23 Stewardship in Kenya
- 24 The Brazilian Stewardship Framework
- Part III Comparisons
- Index
Summary
Corporate stewardship holds great promise for improving shareholder engagement and encouraging more responsible, long-term-oriented value creation. Many countries have now adopted a best practice code for the stewardship role of institutional investors and asset managers, but Germany has so far refused to follow the trend. This chapter explores the reasons for this reluctance, and whether adopting a Stewardship Code would make sense in the current regulatory framework. Despite the increased presence of shareholder engagement (and even activism), there are several possible reasons why lawmakers have refused to adopt a stewardship code. The author argues that the main political reason is the limited geographical reach of such a code, which would primarily apply to the (limited) domestic fund industry and would be unable to prescribe any meaningful principles to foreign-based asset managers. Still, adopting a code in the German context may make sense, for example to define expectations and clarify investee companiesʼ obligations. Most importantly, it would benefit domestic investors that are typically ‘home biased’ and thus frequently disproportionately invested in domestic funds.
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- Information
- Global Shareholder Stewardship , pp. 192 - 221Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022