Fernando Rodríguez | Of the 125 Spanish listed companies which submitted the Annual Corporate Governance Report (IAGC) for the 2020 financial year, 29.6% have in their shareholding an individual, natural or legal person, who holds the majority of voting rights. This person “exercised or could exercise control,” according to the ad hoc report published by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
The report flags that amongst 64% of the group analysed, significant shareholdings and other share packages in the hands of the board exceed 50% of total capital. The average free float of these 100 or so benchmark listed companies stood at 43% last year.
The report reveals that more than 50% of board chairmen (3.5 percentage points more than in 2019) also enjoy executive status, compared to 19.9% of independent chairmen.
In terms of board composition, the average percentage of boards with a majority of independents is 28.8% (29.9% in 2019), rising to 67.6% in the Ibex 35 segment (vs 64.7% a year earlier).
The average age of directors is 60.5 years vs 61.6 years in 2019. Meanwhile, non-independent directors have been on the board for longer – 7.4 years -than independent directors, who have been on the board for 4.3 years. The average number of board members is 9.9 and 12.8 in the Ibex-35 segment.
According to the CNMV report, 93% of the companies analysed comply in full or in part with the recommendations of the Good Governance Code. The least followed recommendations are those related to having separate Appointments and Remuneration Committees , as well as that of a significant percentage of variable remuneration being paid in shares.
