– Active Ownership, the second-largest shareholder in German manufacturer Gerresheimer, has called for a full strategic review of the company following its acquisition of a 5.31 percent stake earlier this year.
As reported by Reuters (paywall), the investor called for a quick conclusion to the sale of Gerresheimer’s molded glass division, to boost cash flow and reduce debt. The demands also include portfolio restructuring, administration cost savings and the establishment of a strategy committee.
The investor says the moves will raise the company’s return on sales by five percentage points, following a year-to-date decline of roughly 36 percent in Gerresheimer’s share price.
– The US Justice Department has said it will not target software developers that create decentralized platforms for transmitting cryptocurrencies without criminal intent.
In a speech by acting assistant attorney general Matthew Galeottiat the American Innovation Project Summit in Jackson, Wyoming, he said: ‘Our view is that merely writing code, without ill-intent, is not a crime. Innovating new ways for the economy to store and transmit value and create wealth, without ill-intent, is not a crime.
The Criminal Division will, however, continue to prosecute those who knowingly commit crimes – or who aid and abet the commission of crimes – including fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion.
He went on to explain that to be guilty of a crime one must ‘intend to aid the commission of an underlying crime’. The announcement follows the launch of Project Crypto by the SEC at the start of the month.
– Investors suing Elon Musk in a class action lawsuit say that the billionaire’s ‘advice-of-counsel’ defense is merely a tactic for the billionaire to escape liability by citing legal advice he received from two prominent law firms without providing details about it.
Reuters reports that attorneys for the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System – which is suing Musk for allegedly defrauding Twitter shareholders who sold stock in the company at artificially low prices because they were unaware of the Tesla CEO’s growing share – say that the businessman and his co-defendants should be required to disclose whether they intend to rely on the involvement of legal counsel as part of their good faith defence.
In a statement, they accuse Musk of using a ‘classic ‘sword and shield’ strategy’ by using their lawyers’ advice as a defense while also refusing share documents relating to that defense, based on attorney-client privilege.
– Medtronic, a medical technology manufacturer, is to add two new directors to its board and set up committeesafter activist investor Elliott Investment Management became one of its largest shareholders.
According to Bloomberg (paywall), John Groetelaars, the former interim CEO for Dentsply Sirona, and Bill Jellison, former CFO at Stryker, will join Medtronic’s board as independent directors.
At the same time, Medtronic’s board has formed two special committees. The Growth Committee to oversee M&A, R&D investments and divestitures. The Operating Committee which will support initiatives to enhance efficiency, expand margins and accelerate earnings.
Elliott Investment Management stated that it believes the company is poised for accelerated growth and strategic clarity.
–German fintech firm N26’s co-founder Valentin Stalf is stepping down from his role as CEO and will join the group’s supervisory board following pressure from the company’s investors.
As reported byThe Financial Times (paywall), investors mandated the change after financial watchdog BaFin identified fresh concerns and threatened to hit N26 with sanctions last month.
Co-founder and co-CEO Max Tayenthal will remain in those positions, no details of Stalf’s replacement has been shared.
– The US and the EU have agreed on a framework for an ‘Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade’ between the two jurisdictions.
As part of the 19-point framework, the EU has pledged to implement rules to ensure that the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ‘do not pose undue restrictions on transatlantic trade’.
This includes efforts to ‘reduce administrative burden on businesses’ and ‘to propose changes to the requirement for a harmonized civil liability regime for due diligence failures and to climate-transition-related obligations’.
At the same time the EU has said it will ‘work to address US concerns regarding the imposition of CSDDD requirements on companies of non-EU countries with relevant high-quality regulations’.
– Some 71 percent of investors prefer that issuers continue using performance share units (PSUs), often in combination with a balance of time-based restricted stock units (RSUs), research shows.
The findings form part of Pay Governance’s latest investor survey – conducted in collaboration with Governance Intelligence – which surveyed more than 100 institutional investors and public pension funds with aggregate assets under management of $29 trn.
According to the findings, 86 percent of investors desire that PSUs comprise at least 50 percent of total long-term incentive value awarded to executives.
Also, 49 percent of all investors said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the CEO pay alignment at their portfolio companies while roughly 26 percent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied