Rivista del Diritto Commerciale e del diritto generale delle Obbligazioni

Sommario: Abstract: The role of institutional investors in corporate governance has recently come back to the foreground following the European legislator renewed attention. The recent legislative provisions on the long-term engagement of the listed companies shareholders, (EU Directive 2017/82, Legislative Decree 49/2019), suggest a research on how much the new rules favor greater engagement by institutional shareholders, how much they affect business efficiency and stability and how much they affect the performance. The new provisions underline the interest of the legislator to promote, by strengthening the engagement of the shareholders, the development of long-term strategies, more attentive to the industrial profile. This is in line with the soft law provisions (the Stewardship principles and the recommendations of the self-regulatory code of listed companies, renewed in January 2020) envisaged for both issuing companies and assets managers who indicate how the respective best practice meet where they are aimed at the development, stability and sustainability of the company. Departing from recent regulatory interventions, the research intends to highlight how the provisions cannot be enough in order to overcome problems and encourage management strategies changes. Instead, a further step is required that leads the subjects involved in the engagement and in corporate management to mutually recognize their respective interests in order to favor governance choices for which the business efficiency and continuity are priorities. Keywords: Engagement of Institutional Investors and Asset Managers – Efficiency and Business Continuity – Management – Sustainable Success – Balancing Interests – Sustainable Investments. Sommario: 1. Introduzione. – 2. La distinzione tra investitori istituzionali e gestori di attivi e la loro posizione di soci caratterizzati. – 3. I limiti economici e giuridici all’attivismo degli azionisti: gli investitori istituzionali tra i soci passivi, potenzialmente attivi, speculativi e il loro potere di orientamento. – 4. Il recente intervento normativo e i profili problematici. – 4.1 L’identificazione degli azionisti e il procedimento assembleare. – 4.2. L’impegno dell’azionista nella prospettiva dell’efficienza e della continuità dell’impresa. – 4.2.1 L’esercizio del diritto di voto tra gestione dei conflitti e proxy advisors. – 4.3. Ulteriori strumenti per lo sviluppo di strategie societarie di lungo periodo: il diritto dei soci ad esprimersi in materia di remunerazione. – 5. L’engagement degli azionisti e la gestione dell’impresa: i soggetti coinvolti e il reciproco riconoscimento dei rispettivi interessi. – 6 Ulteriori sviluppi di engagement, investimenti sostenibili e corporate social responsability.