Brexit isn’t an icebreaker
As an Englishman, I enjoy living in the US most of the time. The accent can be an icebreaker and, oddly, it’s easier to watch my beloved Arsenal soccer team on US TV than it is in Britain. But if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what’s going on with Brexit, I could afford to fly back to London and give everyone responsible a good shake. How are issuers, investors and regulators responding to the Brexit uncertainty? I have no idea, but Tim Human does – and he’s kindly laid it out for us in this issue (see Withdrawal symptoms, page 16).
From a constitutional crisis to a constitutional debate: during my six years in the US I’ve learned that Americans really don’t like being told what to do (who does?), which is why I wanted to explore how companies are responding to the California state quota requiring female board directors by the end of the year (see California, here they come, page 35).
While good governance can be an indicator of a good investment opportunity, a governance crisis is also attractive to investors with a certain risk appetite. On page 28, Garnet Roach talks to Volkswagen and others about what happens to a shareholder register when governance standards slip.
If you have lofty goals for self-improvement this summer, Andrew Holt is here to help. Not with yoga or DIY, or being better at getting back to your parents. Instead, he takes us back to school by profiling the different professional accreditations available to IROs (see Making the grade, page 52).
As ever, we highlight the winners of our recent awards from around the world, while Garnet and I take a deep dive into two award categories to see what we can learn about global best practices (see The gold standard in green reporting, page 80 and Take it from the top, page 93). Thank you for your reading and support of IR Magazine. If you have any questions or comments about the magazine, please do get in touch – just no Brexit questions, please!
Ben Ashwell Editor ben.ashwell@irmagazine.com +1 212 430 6869
Editor Ben Ashwell Managing editor & chief copy editor Kathleen Hennessy Senior reporter Garnet Roach Contributors Jeff Cossette, Jeffrey Goldberger, Laurie Havelock, Andrew Holt, Tim Human, Gill Newton, Paul Simpson, Judith Ugwumadu Editorial advisory board Brian Christie, Janet Craig, Vlad dela Cruz, Gunhild Grieve, Catherine James, Ricardo Jiménez, Richard Jones, Jeannie Ong, Andrew Stephen Founding editor Janet Dignan Design and production executive James Noden Head of events Gargi Iyer Senior events & operations manage rLauren Wilson Conference producer Steven Wade Events manager Alice Kenning President Ian Richman Head of sales, EMEA & Asia Sébastien Dutrieu Head of marketing Marie Paul Sales director Brigitte Toledano Head of research Lloyd Bevan Data analyst & customer insight manager Liuxin Hao Content marketing manager Stuart O’Hara Digital marketing operations manager Katy Littlewood Marketing manager Stephanie Netchaeva Corporate sales manager Paul Campbell Subscription inquiries Asad Daud Tel: +44 20 8004 5015 Email: sales@irmagazine.com
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Cover story illustration by James Noden
