Caisse des Dépôts bases its governance decisions on its internal General Principles for the governance of listed companies. This publicly available document directs its positions when fulfilling its responsibilities as a shareholder, through voting at General Meetings and in its dialogue with listed companies in its portfolio. These principles take into account various French and international guidelines, such as the AFEP-MEDEF Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, the ICGN's Global Corporate Governance Principles, and the PRI.
The Caisse des Dépôts voting guide, which is an extension of the General Principles for the governance of listed companies, sets out the technical rules to apply for resolutions submitted to a vote.
In practice, all resolutions are assessed by a dedicated division, in accordance with the voting guide, and communicated to the portfolio managers. The vote is then cast by mail or in situ at French General Meetings, or by proxy for foreign companies.
Caisse des Dépôts votes at all the shareholder meetings held by companies in which it has an interest, and is required to vote against some resolutions when they turn out to be in contradiction with its governance principles and its voting guide.