GOVERNANCE AND VOTING PRINCIPLES
We believe that good corporate governance provides a good foundation framework to ensure that a corporation is managed in the long-term interest of its shareholders. Therefore BNP Paribas AM expects all corporations in which it invests to comply with high corporate governance standards.
Voting at annual general meetings is a key component of the ongoing dialogue with companies in which we invest on behalf of our clients and forms an integral part of BNP Paribas AM's investment process. We are committed to ensure the consistent exercising of voting rights associated with shares held in Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities (UCITS), Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), foreign investment funds and investment mandates, where proxy voting has been delegated to us.
Our document "Governance and voting policy" explains what we expect of public companies and how we carry out our ownership responsibilities.
The policy outlines our key governance and voting principles, describes our proxy voting process, and sets out guidelines that highlight, for each item, both best practices and any issues that may trigger an "oppose" or "abstain" vote.
In applying our voting guidelines, we take into account specific circumstances as they relate to individual companies. Our policy and guidelines are reviewed annually in order to reflect the evolution of corporate governance codes and market practices