Novartis faces questions about proxy voting independence
At the Novartis general assembly meeting last year.
Keystone / Anthony Anex
A media investigation has revealed that proxy votes submitted by shareholders ended up at Novartis headquarters instead of the elected representative ahead of the annual general meeting.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/ac
Novartis shareholders that choose to vote via proxy ahead of the Annual General Meeting were under the assumption that their votes are sent to a Basel lawyer, who is their elected representative.
The Swiss public television SRF programme “RundschauExternal link” tracked the envelopes containing votes via GPS trackers and found that they were diverted and sent to Novartis headquarters instead. This means that Novartis can see the name of shareholders and their voting positions ahead of the shareholder meeting, indicated SRF on Wednesday.
The revelation drew criticism from Thomas Minder, the initiator of the 2013 executive pay cap “Minder” initiative, who said that “If we take a voting fight or an election for the board of directors, then the board of directors can still mobilise for their side [ahead of the General Meeting] – that will not work”.
Novartis responded to questions saying, “it is important to note that our procedure is consistent with applicable law and does not affect the independence of the independent proxy because votes are counted under its supervision.” However, the company said that it would use the information from the investigation to improve its procedures.
More
More
Swiss firms face greater shareholder opposition
This content was published on
Shareholder rebellion over executive pay at Credit Suisse earlier this year is just one example of growing dissent by Swiss company owners.
More people switching to generic medicine in Switzerland
This content was published on
Measures to encourage more people in Switzerland to use generic medicine in place of brand name originals appear to be working.
Nature magazine: scientific breakthroughs in medicine and space travel in 2025
This content was published on
The science magazine Nature expects breakthroughs in mind-reading machines, new weight-loss drugs, and particle physics in 2025.
This content was published on
Swiss minister Karin Keller-Sutter wants to use Platform X to communicate with the population during her term as president in 2025.
Swiss Post delivers record number of parcels in pre-Christmas period
This content was published on
Swiss Post delivered a total of 22.3 million parcels between the Black Friday promotional week at the end of November and Christmas.
SWISS plane in Graz: employee still in intensive care
This content was published on
The cabin crew member of the SWISS Airbus A220 which made an emergency landing in Graz, Austria, on Monday is still in intensive care.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Novartis stockpiles drugs in UK to ensure supply
This content was published on
Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis says a no-deal Brexit could hurt patients and that it is stockpiling medicines in the UK to help ensure supply.
This content was published on
Around 1,500 jobs are affected in production and 700 in services. Novartis currently employs 13,000 people across Switzerland.
This content was published on
UBS shareholders have overwhelmingly approved executive bonuses at the bank’s AGM. Why such a difference from Credit Suisse?
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.