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OSC urged to tackle corporate social disclosure: report |
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Author: Investment Executive
A report to Ontario’s Minister of Finance calls on the
Ontario Securities Commission to begin pushing companies for improved
disclosure of their social practices.
The report, produced by the
Hennick Centre for Business and Law and Jantzi-Sustainalytics, stresses
that “the OSC is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in
promoting better corporate social disclosure, as well as the development
of best practices over time.”
It says such a step would improve
governance and disclosure practices, and help Ontario lead the way in
this emerging public policy sphere (which includes human rights and
labour practices, employee health and safety, local community
development, and product safety).
The report calls on the OSC to
issue guidance clarifying issuers’ existing social disclosure
obligations in their management discussion & analysis and annual
information forms, as it has done with environmental reporting
obligations.
It also recommends the commission:
- foster a
dialogue between investors, issuers, industry associations, regulators
and others regarding social disclosure;
- encourage, without
imposing prescriptive new rules, more standardized metrics and reporting
in this area; and
- actively monitor disclosure trends and related
internal controls, providing additional guidance as best practices
evolve.
“The recommendations and discussion set out in this
report provide valuable and timely insights on public company social
issue disclosure obligations,” said Dwight Duncan, Ontario finance
minister. “I appreciate the efforts of those who contributed to this
report and look forward to reviewing the recommendations in greater
detail.”
Kevin Ranney, global director, responsible investment
services at Jantzi-Sustainalytics, added, “There is growing momentum in a
number of jurisdictions around the world to enhance corporate
disclosure on environmental, social and governance performance. The OSC
has an opportunity to play a leading role in this area, and our
recommendations suggest some concrete steps that it can take in doing
so.”
The report is available at: www.hennickcentre.ca and www.sustainalytics.com.
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