News
-
The week in GRC: FTC approves ban on non-compete agreements and CEO turnover spikes in Q1
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the – The Financial Times (paywall) reported that the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is developing proposals aimed at ensuring asset managers do not seek too much influence over the banks in which they hold large stakes. Republican board member Jonathan McKernan and Democratic chair Martin Gruenberg are each drafting measures that would demand new requirements of funds that hold more than 10 percent of a bank’s shares to make sure they remain passive investors. The FDIC’s interest has caused concern in the asset management sector. Industry groups argue that…
-
Preparing for conflict: Activism trends in North America, Europe and Asia
Wherever you look, shareholder activism is on the rise. As a recent study by Diligent uncovered, 2023 saw situations reach a four-year global high, with almost 1,000 companies subjected to activist demands publicly. Yet if this trend is set to continue – nearly a quarter of Russell 3000 companies disclosed the potential for activism in their 10K reporting – executives must equally understand the precise threats they’re likely to encounter. In practice, these risks are largely dependent on location. From environmental campaigns becoming more prominent in the US to governance reforms in Asia, these vary significantly, and leaders must grasp…
-
Earth Day poll finds waning global interest in climate change, but most still want businesses to act
Ipsos research notes that younger generations are most pessimistic about tackling climate change Monday this week was Earth Day, the annual event focused on showing support for environmental protection. This year’s celebration appears to have passed with a little less fanfare, at least from the perspective of my inbox. There are notably fewer people getting in touch wanting to talk about their new ESG or sustainability initiatives than I remember from previous years. But what does the bigger picture look like? Market research firm Ipsos carries out a survey every year around Earth Day to look at global attitudes toward…
-
Get specific on risk: Inside the minds of SEC influencers
Deep Quarry founder Olga Usvyatsky talks about what transparency really means, how companies can prepare for new rules that bring potentially big change and why risk factors need to be more specific When you’ve spent years focused on the depth of numbers in SEC filings, you come to appreciate what transparency really means, says Olga Usvyatsky, founder of Deep Quarry, a filings site and newsletter on Substack. She’s a former vice president of research at Audit Analytics, who came to the world of 8Ks, 10Ks and everything in between through her work in data analytics. She’s also one of a…
-
Walmart faces vote on ‘living wage’ proposal
Resolution calls for board and management to set ‘wage policies that are consistent with fiduciary duties’ Walmart investors appear set to vote on a proposal aimed at the company’s wage policies after the SEC declined to give it the green light to exclude the measure from its proxy statement. The proposal, filed by The Shareholder Commons (TSC) on behalf of Legal & General Investment Management America, requests that Walmart’s board and management ‘exercise their discretion to establish company wage policies that are consistent with fiduciary duties and reasonably designed to provide workers with the minimum earnings necessary to meet a…
-
Zoetis general counsel steps down
Heidi Chen has been with the company and its former parent Pfizer for more than two decades Zoetis has announced in an SEC filing that Heidi Chen has stepped down as executive vice president, general counsel & corporate secretary and business lead of human health diagnostics, effective April 16. The filing states that Chen will continue as an employee adviser of the company until July 16 this year, after which it is anticipated she will be a non-employee consultant. According to her LinkedIn profile, Chen has been with Zoetis for almost 12 years. She took up her most recent position…
-
Inside the minds of SEC influencers: From the Friday night dump to the ‘sexiest’ reporting season
Michelle Leder of footnoted* on her approach to examining filings, the numbers she always reads and why companies should just lay their cards on the table ‘I’m like the queen of Edgar, the Kim Kardashian of SEC filings,’ says Michelle Leder, author and founder of footnoted*. She might be joking but Leder has dug through thousands upon thousands of US company statements over the past two decades. She’s one of a number of people who pore over SEC filings not just because it’s their job but also because they love finding the interesting numbers tucked away in a company statement…
-
The week in GRC: NBIM to back CEO/chair split at Goldman Sachs and DoJ to offer some whistleblowers immunity under pilot program
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that a conservative federal appeals court judge argued that judicial policymakers wrongly gave in to political pressure to curtail ‘judge shopping’ with a policy change that would deter right-leaning litigants from steering cases to preferred judges. US Circuit Judge James Ho said the US Judicial Conference’s new judicial assignment policy undercut the judiciary’s independence by giving in to critics engaged in ‘forum shaming’. ‘Judges are supposed to follow the law, not distort the rules to avoid criticism,’ Ho said, according to prepared remarks. ‘The last…
-
How to take control of your ESG data-management processes, according to reporting experts
Collaboration is key, say speakers at recent Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine webinar As regulators and market operators around the world tighten their requirements for companies’ ESG reporting standards, many corporate teams are re-evaluating how their organization handles sustainability data management in an effort to render the – often complicated – process as manageable as possible. This was the task ahead of the panelists on a recent Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine webinar, titled ‘How to take control of your ESG data-management processes’. To start, Sarah Fortt, partner at Latham & Watkins, laid the groundwork for discussion by delving into…
-
Broadridge hires next legal chief
Hope Jarkowski succeeds Keir Gumbs, who joined Edward Jones as general counsel late last year Broadridge Financial Solutions has recruited Hope Jarkowski to become its new chief legal officer (CLO), effective May 6. She will join Broadridge from the NYSE, where she has been general counsel since 2022. Jarkowski succeeds Keir Gumbs, who was Broadridge’s CLO until November 2023 when he joined Edward Jones as general counsel to lead the firm’s legal and compliance teams. Before becoming NYSE general counsel, Jarkowski was head of equities for the exchange, with responsibility for strategy, product development and relationship management across the NYSE’s…