Public investment funds join call for independent Facebook chair
Cambodia, Thailand to cooperate in tourism
FOUR public investment fund officials on Wednesday joined a call to install an independent chairman at Facebook, saying the move would improve governance and accountability at the world’s biggest social network.
The state treasurers of Il linois, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania and the New York Cit y comptroller – a ll of whom hold Facebook shares – endorsed the proposal made earlier this year by Trillium Asset Management to separate t he roles of chairman and chief executive now held by Mark Zuckerberg.
Trillium made the proposal in June, saying Facebook needs independent oversight following scandals over the hijacking of personal data on tens of millions of users, manipulation of the platform by foreign actors and the propagation of inflammatory rhetoric sparking violence in Myanmar, among other issues.
“Facebook plays an outsized role in our societ y and our economy. They have a socia l and financial responsibilit y to be transparent – t hat’s why we’re demanding independence and accountabilit y in t he company’s boardroom,” said New York Cit y Comptroller Scott Stringer in a statement released by Trillium.
‘More accountability’
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs added in the statement: “We need to see more accountability of Mark Zuckerberg to the board of directors to restore investor confidence and protect shareholder value.”
Zuckerberg owns an estimated 17 per cent of Facebook equit y but a dual share class gives him a majorit y of voting shares, making it difficult to oppose him.
Trillium, formed as a fund focused on socia lly responsible investing, said an independent chair would bring Facebook into line with recommendations of corporate governance experts, and said it would make the proposal at the annual shareholder meeting in May 2019.
The investment firm noted t hat Google, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and Twitter have separate CEO and chair roles, as do a large number of other publicly traded firms.
The group said a similar proposal made last year received support of 51 per cent of the votes cast when excluding the shares of 13 executives and board members.
“We are entering a new phase of Facebook’s growth,” said Jonas Kron, a senior vice president at Trillium.
“At a time like this, we really need to have independent board leadership that can provide strong guidance and enforce real accountability.”
Facebook noted that it has a lead independent director who represents shareholder interests.
In a regulator y filing last year, Facebook said on the matter: “We do not believe that requiring the chairman to be independent will provide appreciably better direction and performance, and instead could cause uncertainty, confusion, and inefficiency in board and management function and relations.” CAMBODIA and Thailand will further strengthen tourism sector cooperation to promote flows between the two countries and third-country tourist crossings. This was the result of a meeting between the two countries’ tourism ministers in Kampot province on Wednesday.
The two sides also agreed on some key points such as strengthening relations with each other, facilitating travelling, improving the visa process and border crossings, promoting the potential for reciprocal tourism, Single-Visa usage and participation in tourism exhibitions.
Cambodia Association of Travel Agents president Chhay Sivlin said strengthening cooperation with Thailand is critical for the tourism sector.
“Thailand has a lot of people and many international direct flights. So if we have good cooperation and use of the Single-Visa [agreement], it will help Cambodia get more tourists,” she said, adding that Cambodia and Thailand are currently seeking to implement the Single-Visa.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism says in the first eight months of this year, Cambodia received 3.9 million international tourists – up 11.7 per cent from year-on-year – of which Thai tourists, amounting to 210,286, fell 3.9 per cent.