News
-
Target’s legal and compliance chief to retire
Don Liu has been with the retailer since 2016 Don Liu, executive vice president and chief legal & compliance officer (CLCO) with Target Corporation, has told the company he intends to retire during 2024. According to an SEC filing, Liu intends to remain CLCO until a successor is appointed and is expected to be a strategic adviser for a transition period. In his current role, he oversees all legal, compliance and corporate governance matters for the company and is corporate secretary.Liu joined Target in 2016 from Xerox Corporation where he had been executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary…
-
Micron hires legal chief
Michael Ray was previously general counsel at Western Digital Micron Technology has hired Michael Ray as the company’s senior vice president, chief legal officer (CLO) and corporate secretary. Ray reports to Micron president and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. He is responsible for the company’s global legal, compliance and intellectual property (IP) functions. Ray previously spent more than 23 years at Western Digital. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was most recently senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. His earlier positions at the company included vice president for legal services and vice president for corporate law. Michael Ray Before joining…
-
The week in GRC: ExxonMobil goes to court to stop shareholder climate proposals and US appeals courts form panels on AI use
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against US and Dutch activist investors in an effort to stop them from submitting climate shareholder proposals during the company’s AGM. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Arjuna Capital and Follow This. A growing number of environmental and social shareholder proposals have been voted on in recent proxy seasons. The SEC usually decides whether companies are allowed to exclude proposals. In a statement, ExxonMobil said: ‘The breakdown of the shareholder proposal…
-
Norway’s SWF calls for greater transparency around ESG ratings
Ratings agencies should publicly disclose methodologies and processes, investor says The world’s largest investor, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has called for improved transparency and governance when it comes to ESG ratings. NBIM acknowledges that although ESG ratings play a critical role in guiding investment decisions, risk monitoring and stewardship activities, a lack of disclosure regarding methodology, data sources and estimation surrounding the rating can be off-putting. ‘We are a user of ESG ratings and have an interest in a well-functioning global ESG data market. As an investor, we need information on companies’ exposure to sustainability risks and opportunities, how…
-
AMD hires general counsel from Lam Research
Ava Hahn succeeds Harry Wolin, who is retiring In early 2021, individual investors – including many amateurs – got together on Reddit and other social media platforms to buy shares of struggling companies like GameStop, AMC and others to create what the SEC called the ‘meme-stock phenomenon’. The result became a Wall Street vs Main Street story, the likes of which inspired books and movies. For IR professionals, the lesson is that companies needed to reconsider the power of retail shareholders, an investor segment that many issuers and other investors had largely ignored for decades. At the time, that lesson…
-
Activism: Collective voting power of retail shareholders could sway contested votes
Companies have potential to set pace for 2024 proxy season Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has hired Ava Hahn as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Hahn previously worked at Lam Research, where she was chief legal officer with responsibility for global legal and governmental affairs. Before joining Lam, she was executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at CA Technologies, now part of Broadcom, having earlier in her career been general counsel and corporate secretary at Aruba Networks, which is now part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. During her career, Hahn has also been general counsel with venture…
-
Leidos names next general counsel
Dan Antal joining from Rolls-Royce Defense and North America Fortune 500 science and technology company Leidos has appointed Dan Antal as its next general counsel, effective April 1. Antal is at present general counsel for Rolls-Royce Defense and North America. He will succeed Jerald Howe, who had announced his planned retirement from the company. Howe will remain general counsel until March 31 and will continue in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition until March 15, 2025.According to his LinkedIn profile, Antal previously spent more than seven years with Leidos before joining Rolls-Royce in 2021. During his previous spell…
-
The week in GRC: BlackRock to press companies on resilience this proxy season and US eyes tougher penalties for export-control violations
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that a federal judge blocked JetBlue Airways from acquiring Spirit Airlines, agreeing with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) that the $3.8 bn deal would eliminate a competitor important to price-conscious travelers. The DoJ said JetBlue’s purchase of Spirit would remove an ultra-low-cost carrier that benefits travelers and puts pressure on other airlines to keep down fares. Removing Spirit as a rival would allow JetBlue to increase prices by as much as 30 percent, the government said. Judge William Young agreed that…
-
Tesla and GM face deep-sea mining shareholder proposals
Concerns over sourcing of materials for electric vehicles Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow has filed proposals at Tesla and General Motors (GM) asking them to address concerns about the impact of deep-sea mining as used to extract materials for vehicle batteries. According to the group, Tesla and GM are yet to state their positions on the issue. ‘Mining the deep sea for battery-related minerals will create irreversible habitat and ecosystem loss, with the risk of permanently destroying invaluable carbon storage,’ As You Sow states. ‘A commitment or clarification on deep-sea mining from Tesla and [GM] would signal to shareholders…
-
Arvinas hires general counsel
Jared Freedberg was previously general counsel at Intercept Pharmaceuticals Nasdaq-listed Arvinas has hired Jared Freedberg as general counsel for the clinical-stage biotechnology company. Freedberg was most recently general counsel at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for managing all legal activities, including corporate and board governance, compliance, securities, contracting, intellectual property strategy and management, M&A, business development and litigation management.Before that, he was general counsel and corporate secretary at Immunomedics. He had previously been general counsel for specialty generics and vice president for legal, business development and licensing at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Jared Freedberg According to his LinkedIn profile, Freedberg previously…