News
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American Airlines attorney returns to Kimberly-Clark as general counsel
Grant McGee previously spent more than six years with the company Grant McGee has returned to Kimberly-Clark Corporation as senior vice president and general counsel. McGee rejoined Kimberly-Clark this month from American Airlines, where he had been vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary since May 2022. He had previously spent more than six years at Kimberly-Clark in roles of increasing seniority, most recently vice president and senior deputy general counsel. According to his LinkedIn profile, he previously spent more than four years at General Electric (GE), most recently as executive counsel for M&A. Before that he was an…
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The week in GRC: Business groups urge companies to back diversity initiatives and Senate bill seeks to stop SEC’s proposed AI rule
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that US companies’ diversity initiatives are here to stay but are being adapted in response to lawsuits and outside scrutiny. Companies are trying to develop programs that promote inclusion without running afoul of the law and potentially bringing costly consequences, according to lawyers and corporate advisers. That means some are abandoning practices such as numerical targets that can be seen as ‘quotas’ or the use of unconscious bias training that casts blame. Legal pressure has been mounting following last year’s US Supreme…
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NBIM divested from 86 companies in 2023 over ESG concerns
World’s largest sovereign wealth fund steps up net-zero pursuit Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has stepped up its climate plans and expects its portfolio companies to follow suit as it continues to divest from more companies carrying high environmental and social risks. Last year the sovereign wealth fund divested from 86 companies that it says pose ESG risks and identified companies with heightened risks across a variety of ESG topics, including potential violations of human and labor rights, insufficient risk management related to corruption and business models highly exposed to thermal coal. In total, NBIM has made 526 divestment decisions…
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JB Hunt faces vote on equitable worker healthcare
SEC dismisses company’s request to omit shareholder proposal S&P 500 company JB Hunt Transport Services is facing a vote at its upcoming AGM on a proposal regarding the healthcare it offers workers. The proposal, filled by Trillium Asset Management, states: ‘To address LGBTQ+ inequality in society and employment, shareholders of [JB Hunt] ask the company to adopt and publicly disclose a policy (with details and timing at the discretion of the company) of equitable healthcare coverage for all employees, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.’ The resolution is likely to go to a vote after the SEC rejected JB…
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IBM’s general counsel to retire
Michelle Browdy has been in the role for almost a decade Michelle Browdy will retire from her role as senior vice president for legal and regulatory affairs and general counsel at IBM. According to an SEC filing, Browdy has told the company she intends to step down by the end of the year. The filing had no further details and an IBM spokesperson had no further comment other than that a successor has not been named. Browdy has been in her current role since 2015. She is responsible for IBM’s global corporate governance, legal, security and compliance activities and policies,…
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Altria reveals general counsel succession plan
Murray Garnick to retire April 1 Murray Garnick, executive vice president and general counsel of Altria Group, has told the company he plans to retire, effective April 1, 2024. Robert McCarter will succeed Garnick at that time. Tobacco company Altria’s wholly owned subsidiaries include manufacturers of both combustible and smoke-free products such as Philip Morris USA and brands such as Marlboro. Garnick leads the company’s law department and the corporate secretary’s office, regulatory affairs and regulatory sciences functions. He has been in this role since 2017. Garnick has worked with Altria and its associated companies, both internally and externally, across…
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Which environmental numbers really matter to investors?
Actionable data is more important than high volume Recently, the head of ESG at a blue-chip asset manager that is paying more than $200,000 annually for ESG data told me: ‘Once we get this ton of data from a major data provider, our work just begins. We have to make some financial sense of it.’ His remark points to a fundamental problem with ESG data and the $50 tn ESG investment market: there are too many indicators and too much non-actionable data. For an investor, knowing how many tons of greenhouse gases a company emits annually says little, if anything,…
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The week in GRC: Follow This drops ExxonMobil climate proposal and judge nixes Musk’s Tesla pay package
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that investors that use shareholder proposals to press action on ESG issues are concerned that an ExxonMobil lawsuit bypassing the SEC could undermine their influence. Under appointees of President Joe Biden, the SEC has made it more difficult for companies to omit these proposals from their proxy materials. ExxonMobil earlier this month sidestepped the SEC and filed a lawsuit against two shareholders that had put forward a resolution calling on the company to set new targets for reducing some of its greenhouse gas emissions. ‘We’re…
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Howard Hughes Holdings recruits general counsel
Joseph Valane joining from Revantage and Shopcore Properties NYSE-listed Howard Hughes Holdings has recruited Joseph Valane to become its general counsel and corporate secretary, effective March 18. Valane will join Howard Hughes from Revantage and Shopcore Properties, both Blackstone portfolio companies, where has been general counsel. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has been with Revantage for six years, initially as assistant general counsel for corporate and business matters and later as associate general counsel, before becoming general counsel. At Revantage and Shopcore Properties, Valane has overseen teams providing legal support across Blackstone’s US real estate portfolio, including retail, multifamily,…
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Amazon looks to exclude shareholder proposal seeking ‘living wage report’
Resolution expresses concern about ‘systemic risks stemming from growing income inequality’ Amazon.com has asked the SEC for the green light to omit a shareholder proposal asking the company to produce a ‘living wage report’, arguing that it deals with ordinary business operations and seeks to micromanage the online retailer. The resolution, filed by Zevin Asset Management, requests Amazon’s board oversee the preparation of a ‘living wage report to provide investors with information needed to assess the extent to which the company is complying with international human rights standards and assessing systemic risks stemming from growing income inequality.’ The proposal asks…