Report rates corporate governance

Report rates corporate governance - (United Press International): "

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 16 (UPI) -- A report by U.S. firm Governance Metrics International ranks Canadian firms first for corporate governance.

European corporate leadership received relatively low marks in the study, compared to U.S. and British corporate leaders, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Canadian firms did the best, receiving an average score of 7.6 out of 10, followed by U.S. firms (average score 7), Australian firms (6.9) and British firms (6.7).

Japanese firms did the worst of any studied, receiving an average score of 3.

Governance Metrics International evaluated the corporate governance of 2,100 companies in 20 countries based on factors including information available to investors, compensation for top managers, internal control mechanisms, stockholders rights, provisions to prevent hostile takeover and the composition of company administration.

Perfect scores went to 22 companies, including General Electric, General Motors and Vodafone."