-
People moves: Jennifer Lankford takes over as legal chief at Cracker Barrel
Plus Toyota, Barclays and Par Health make changes to their governance teams Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, the US operator of chain of restaurants and gift stores, has named Jennifer Lankford as the company’s next SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary. Lankford will replace Richard Wolfson who retired from the position at the start of the month. She currently serves as the company’s vice president and deputy general counsel. Prior to joining Cracker Barrell in 2018 as senior corporate counsel, Lankford held a number of roles at law firms Cornelius & Collins and Thompson Burton. Staying in the US, Toyota…
-
Number of ESG shareholder resolutions in US falls nearly 50 percent amid Republican pressure
A mix of stricter rules, shifting investor sentiment and increased behind-the-scenes engagement is reducing the visibility of ESG activism in the US The number of ESG shareholder resolutions filed at US companies has dropped sharply in 2026, research shows, reflecting a shift in the political and regulatory environment as well as changing corporate strategies. According to the recent Proxy Preview 2026 report released by As You Sow and Proxy Impact, investors have submitted 184 ESG-related proposals so far this proxy season, compared with 355 at the same point last year. The decline of roughly 48 percent signals a significant change…
-
The week in GRC: Glass Lewis and ISS sue the state of Indiana as Lululemon boardroom drama intensifies
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS have expanded a coordinated legal challenge against US state laws regulating their voting recommendations, filing new lawsuits targeting Indiana. Both firms argue that Indiana’s House Bill 1273, set to take effect in July 2026, violates First Amendment protections by imposing disclosure requirements only when advisers recommend voting against corporate management. The law would require ‘written financial analysis’ for such recommendations and expose firms to fines and litigation, while potentially applying to advice given globally. Glass Lewis and ISS argue the statute…
-
General Motors shields top execs pay from the impact of Trump tariffs
CEO Mary Barra had a minor pay bump after steering the automaker through a year of regulatory hurdles General Motors’(GM) board ofdirectors’decision to neutralize the impact of tariffs in its executive bonus calculations is now clearer in both structure and scale, with newly disclosed pay figures showing how adjusted metrics flowed directly into compensation outcomes for its top leadership. In its2026proxystatement,GMdetailed how its compensation committee applied a $3.1 bn upward adjustment to EBIT-adjusted performance to offset tariff-related costs tied to policies introduced underPresidentDonald Trump. The tariffs, part of a broader policy push targeting imported vehicles,componentsand raw materials, were designed to…
-
People moves: Tim Brown joins Principal Financial Group as new general counsel
Plus WesBanco, Maximus and Littelfuse bolster their compliance teams Nasdaq-listed investment management and insurance firm Principal Financial Group has appointed Tim Brown as its new EVP, general counsel and secretary. As of June 8, Brown will lead the company’s legal, government relations and compliance activities and serve as general counsel for its board of directors. Before joining Principal Financial, Brown served as VP, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Venerable Holdings. Prior to that, he served as VP and chief counsel for M&A, corporate transactions and insurance regulatory at Voya. ‘Tim is a proven leader with a track record…
-
‘Traditional governance is not ready for the AI world:’ Legal leaders discuss the profession’s new normal
Boards risk falling behind as AI adoption outpaces governance, experts warn during Governance Intelligence briefing Leading with the concept of the agentic enterprise, Governance Intelligence’s latest briefing highlighted a fundamental shift in how organizations must approach governance, strategy and operations in the age of AI. During the session titledBringing in AI: global perspectives of AI oversight, which was held in partnership withNasdaq,panelists emphasized that this transition is not incremental but structural, requiring boards and executives to rethink long-standing models. Steven Wolfe Pereira, CEO and founder of Alpha, framed the discussion by pointing to a widening gap between traditional governance and…
-
The week in GRC: BP AGM sees investor shoot down climate and virtual meeting resolutions as SpaceX prepares for IPO
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – BP faced a significant shareholder revolt at its 2026 AGM, with investors rejecting key board proposals and signaling unease over the company’s climate strategy shift. As reported by Reuters (paywall), shareholders voted down resolutions to allow fully virtual AGMs and to remove existing climate disclosure commitments, both failing to secure majority backing. According to The Financial Times (paywall), support for chair Albert Manifold was notably weaker than usual, with more than 18 percent of investors opposing his re-election amid criticism of governance and transparency. The backlash reflects broader…
-
People moves: Lumen welcomes Jennifer Hodges as new EVP and chief legal officer
Plus Electrolux, Howmet Aerospace and Sodexo make leadership changes Lumen Technologies, the winner of the best shareholder engagement (small to mid-cap) trophy at the 2025 Corporate Governance Awards, has named Jennifer Hodges as its new EVP and chief legal officer. Hodges will take over from Mark Hacker who is retiring ‘to pursue a vocation in ministry, entering formation for the diaconate’ according to a press release from the company. He will stay in a supervisory role until May 15. Prior to her promotion, Hodges served as SVP of corporate governance at Lumen. Before joining the company, she served as a…
-
The evolution of SEC reporting: From financial print to structured data
How the industry moved from hand-delivered filings to digital disclosure, machine-readable data and the next generation of reporting infrastructure. SEC reporting has undergone a profound transformation over the past several decades. What began as a manual, paper-based process has evolved into a digital, structured data environment that delivers greater speed, accessibility and analytical value across the capital markets. While the technologies and formats have changed, the underlying objective has remained constant: providing trusted, timely and transparent information to regulators, investors and the market. In the era of hard-copy financial print, the reporting process was highly physical, time-sensitive and operationally complex.…
-
SEC’s proposed Regulation S-K reform ignores growing material risks, warns As You Sow
Shareholder organization compares rowing back core disclosure framework to the movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ As You Sow has formally challenged proposed changes to Regulation S-K, filing a comment letter with the SEC in response to chairman Paul Atkins’ January statement on reform. The organization is urging the regulator not to weaken what it describes as a core disclosure framework governing how public companies report risk, governance and financial information to investors. Instead, it argues that the rules should be strengthened to reflect growing market complexity and rising material risks. ‘Regulation S-K is the foundational disclosure framework that governs risk, governance…