The Previ Model Manual for Participation in Shareholder Meetings, created by Banco do Brasil's employee pension fund to advise companies in the development of manuals for such meetings, has already gained the support of some of the people most interested in prior issuance of explanatory material about the matters handled at those meetings: foreign investors.

Hermes Equity Ownership Services, asset manager for the largest pension funds in the United Kingdom and a stakeholder in Brazilian companies, announced in late November its support for Previ’s manual, released on the 17th of the same month.

The British institution intends to hold meetings with Brazilian companies in which it has invested to recommend the “Previ way” of writing manuals. “The guide is an example to be followed in Brazil and will greatly improve company-shareholder relations”, says Colin Melvin, Hermes president.

The first part of the guide has an index, with items such as messages from the CEO and chairman, formal announcements and deadlines. The second part contains suggestions for explanatory texts for the main subjects handled at shareholder meetings, such as presentation and discussion of financial statements, election of board members, manager remuneration and merger and acquisition operations, among others.