MPs' corporate governance probe will target fund managers

20 January 2012 8:00 am | By Steve Tolley

The Treasury select committee will launch an inquiry into corporate governance, part of which will focus on the role of fund managers.

TSC members hinted at an inquiry into executive pay during a hearing with Chancellor George Osborne last week and committee staff have confirmed TSC members have agreed to launch an inquiry into corporate governance.

No terms have yet been set and, due to the heavy workload of the committee, a start date has not been agreed.

TSC member and Conservative MP for Wyre Forest Mark Garnier says: “All too often, we hear fund managers hide behind the questionable claim they are not actual shareholders, merely holders on the behalf of their investors. Yet that means corporate governance is seriously lacking since the vast majority of shareholders are through collective investment vehicles.”

Corporate governance has become a hot political topic recently, with all three main parties battling to lead the debate over how to deal with what TSC member and Conservative MP Jesse Norman dubbed “crony capitalism”.

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