AXA Group

Organized by the communications agency Capitalcom and Deloitte, Les Echos and Radio Classique, the "2008 general meeting awards" for CAC 40 companies took place on July 3 in Paris. The AXA Group has improved its position compared with 2007, coming in second behind Lafarge and ahead of L'Oréal.

The year's best general meeting awards for CAC 40 businesses are aimed at encouraging and strengthening the companies' relations with their shareholders, while rallying them around their industrial projects.

Overseen by four partners - Les Echos, Radio Classique, Deloitte and Capitalcom - this award rewards the company whose annual shareholders' meeting best reflects the various best practices outlined based on a scorecard with over 80 criteria (quality of exchanges with shareholders, organization, quality of speeches, educational dimension, accessibility of financial information, presentation of the corporate governance system, etc.).

The panel of judges for the 2008 awards, made up of 20 members and co-chaired by Philippe Marini, Senator and Mayor of Compiègne, General Rapporteur for the French Senate's Finance Commission, and Benoît Potier, the chairman and CEO of Air Liquide (winning company in 2007), unanimously voted to award first place to Lafarge. AXA, ranked third in 2007, came in second this year, ahead of L'Oréal, which received bronze. The jury's special prize, rewarding the best progress made in relation to 2007, went to ACCOR.

In terms of AXA's general meeting, the panel of judges particularly appreciated:

• The exemplarity of its governance, including its detailed presentation of the compensation package for each one of the Management Board and Executive Committee members;
• The relevant explanations on the impact of the financial crisis;
• The very good presentation highlighting the company's strengths;
• The quality of the debate;
• The fluidity and creativity of the organization

The Group's next general meeting will be held on April 30, 2009.