Strong oversight and accountability are crucial to the management of material ESG issues as well as a company’s ability to execute its long-term business strategy. Sustainalytics flagged corporate governance concerns at both Volkswagen and Fiat months before the respective emissions scandals broke.
Sustainalytics’ Corporate Governance Research & Ratings enable investors to better assess portfolio companies’ corporate governance structures, practices and behaviors. These qualities have long been embraced by investors as potential sources of investment risk and, more recently, opportunity.
Our Corporate Governance Research & Ratings also form the baseline assessment for our ESG Risk Ratings.
Latest Newsletters
Governance in Brief – May 25, 2023
Governance in Brief – May 19, 2023
Governance in Brief – May 11, 2023
Key Features & Benefits

Better understand companies’ corporate governance systems and practices and the potential risks and opportunities they pose to long-term value creation.

Leverage insights from our independent analyses to inform your investment decisions as well as proxy voting and engagement activities.

Benchmark companies’ corporate governance performance on a variety of metrics to identify strengths as well as potential red flags.

Speak directly to our in-house team of subject matter experts.
Coverage
~4,200 COMPANIES
Global coverage of major indexes
Corporate Governance Reports
Data-driven contextual reports that provide corporate governance ratings and information on a global universe of approximately 4,200 companies. We assess a company’s corporate governance structures, practices and behaviors along six pillars that are deemed crucial for good governance: Board Integrity & Quality, Board Structure, Remuneration, Shareholder Rights, Financial Reporting and Stakeholder Governance. Select reports also include an analyst view and outlook for the company.

Corporate Governance Pillars

Board & Management Quality and Integrity
Do the board’s experience, track record and behavior sufficiently demonstrate its ability to provide strategic leadership and oversight?

Board Structure
Do the organization and structure of the board provide sufficient oversight, representation and accountability to shareholders?

Ownership and Shareholder Rights
Do the constitution of the company and its ownership structures respect the right of outside shareholders relative to the board, management, and major holders?

Remuneration
Do the company’s remuneration policies and practices provide appropriate incentives for management to build value?

Audit & Financial Reporting
Are the company’s financial reports reliable and subject to appropriate oversight?

Stakeholder Governance
Does the company’s management of extra financial risks and broader stakeholder relationships raise concerns regarding its governance of long-term value creation?
Delivery Options

Global Access
Access our research through our user-friendly investor interface with easy to use screening and reporting tools. You can also access onscreen & PDF reports

Data Services Regular data feed (SFTP/FTP) or API
Access our research through an internal or a third-party system of your choice: Bloomberg, Factset and Markit
Why Sustainalytics?

A Single Market Standard
Consistent approach to ESG assessments across the investment spectrum.

Award-Winning Research and Data
Firm recognized as Best ESG Research and Data Provider by Environmental Finance and Investment Week.

End-to-End ESG Solutions
ESG products and services that serve the entire investment value chain.

30 Years of ESG Expertise
800+ ESG research analysts across our global offices.

A Leading SPO Provider
As recognized by Environmental Finance and the Climate Bonds Initiative.
Related Insights and Resources
Governance in Brief – May 25, 2023
Activist investor pushes for leadership and strategy changes at NRG Energy Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has disclosed a 13% stake in the US-based NRG Energy and called for leadership and operational changes at the company to remedy its “meaningful underperformance.” The investor urged NRG to add independent directors with experience in the power and energy sector to its board, noting that it has already identified five executives to guide the operational and strategic changes.
Governance in Brief – May 19, 2023
EU court sides with Ryanair on Lufthansa’s 2020 bailout. The EU General Court, the second-highest court in the EU, has annulled the European Commission’s decision on the approval of state bailout for Deutsche Lufthansa prompted by the 2020 pandemic. The judgment found the EC erroneously considered that Lufthansa could not obtain financing on the markets and failed to ask for the implementation of an incentive mechanism for the airline to buy back the German Government’s stake.
Governance in Brief – May 11, 2023
JPMorgan Chase takes over failed First Republic Bank JPMorgan Chase has acquired the assets and deposits of First Republic Bank after California authorities seized and auctioned the troubled lender. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), an independent governmental agency established to maintain financial stability through the insurance of banks’ deposits, took possession of First Republic Bank after the lender suffered a severe liquidity crisis following the failure of SVB and Signature Bank earlier in March.
Governance in Brief – May 4, 2023
TotalEnergies sells Canadian oil sands operations to Suncor TotalEnergies has announced that it will sell its Canadian operations to Suncor Energy, in an agreement worth up to CAD 6.1 billion (USD 4.47 billion). The French energy giant had originally planned to exit Canadian oil sands by spinning off TotalEnergies EP Canada, but later agreed to instead sell the operations after having received unsolicited offers from both Suncor and other parties.
Related Products

ESG Voting Policy Overlay
Receive voting recommendations based on sustainability principles, ESG research and engagement signals.

Thematic Engagement
Our Thematic Engagement program includes several corporate governance related engagement themes.

ESG Risk Ratings
Take a coherent and consistent approach to assessing financially material ESG risks.