THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA | Country-by-Country Reporting, Compensation Ratios and Tax Havens at THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA

Status
9.89% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
2
Resolution details
Company ticker
BNS
Lead filer
Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires (MÉDAC)
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Governance
ESG sub-theme
  • Remuneration or pay
  • Tax
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Financials
Company HQ country
Canada
Resolved clause
RESOLVED: that the bank disclose to the general public, on an annual basis, the non-confidential information relating to its Country-by-Country Reporting, for the purposes of detailed and meaningful calculations of compensation ratios, namely broken down by jurisdiction, and to contribute to combatting tax havens, particularly as regards transparency.
Supporting statement
SUPPORTING STATEMENT: On several occasions over the years, the bank received from MÉDAC – henceforth from Vancity – shareholder proposals requesting the calculation and disclosure of the compensation ratio. Despite the substantial number of votes supporting these proposals, the bank still refuses to disclose its overall compensation ratio, as has been mandatory for some time now in the United States and as many companies already do here in Canada. Of course, a number of arguments have been put forward against the publication of such a ratio. Also, despite the fact that the compensation ratio should be published for all employees in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards1, public disclosure of non-confidential data in the “Country by Country Reporting” – Action 132 of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework3 on BEPS4 (base erosion and profit shifting), an international initiative to which Canada is a signatory – would enable the calculation of significant compensation ratios so as to allow a better interpretation of the overall compensation ratio by broadening the description of the context. 1 Disclosure 2-21, Annual Total Compensation Ratio, Full set of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards – Disclose a. ratio; b. percentage increase; and: c. “contextual information necessary to understand the data” (Emphasis added.) https://www.globalreporting.org/pdf.ashx?id=22118 2 Action 13 – Country by Country Reporting https://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/beps-actions/action13/ 3 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting – https://www.oecd.org/tax/beps. 4 What is BEPS?, OECD https://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/about/. Management proxy circular 121 SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS Moreover, disclosing these non-confidential data to the general public – as is the case in several other countries, notably in Europe – would be an exercise in transparency, goodwill and good faith that would directly contribute to efforts to combat tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax havens and other “complacent laws”. For all these reasons, the bank must publicly announce the non-confidential data of its Country by Country Reporting each year.

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