EADS is off to a difficult start in its new, more streamlined setup, as many of the group's smaller investors demanded the resignation of Arnaud Lagardere last week from the board of directors. An extraordinary shareholder meeting at that time approved of the organizational changes, but investors sharply criticized Lagardere for his role in an alleged insider-trading scandal. "The real topic is that corporate governance means absolutely nothing if shareholders cannot trust directors," one of them says. The assembly nevertheless elected all five newly proposed directors, although appalled that none of them showed up at the event. "We are supposed to elect directors that are not even present," another investor said.
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