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Nike names next legal chief
Rob Leinwand has been with the Beaverton, Oregon-based company since 2004 Nike has named Rob Leinwand as its next executive vice president and chief legal officer (CLO). Leinwand is at present vice president, deputy general counsel with the sportswear company, which he joined in 2004. In his new role he will report to Elliott Hill, president and CEO. Leinwand will succeed Ann Miller, who will become executive vice president of global sports marketing at Nike. She in turn will succeed John Slusher, who is retiring from the company later this year after 26 years. According to Leinwand’s LinkedIn profile, during…
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The week in GRC: First companies adopt science-based targets to protect nature and 23andMe appoints three new directors
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that 23andMe appointed three new independent directors to its board, a month after all seven of its previous directors resigned. The new board members are Andre Fernandez, the former CFO of WeWork; Jim Frankola, the former CFO of Cloudera; and Mark Jensen, a tech adviser and former managing partner at Deloitte, according to a release. The only other board member is 23andMe’s co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki. Fernandez, Frankola and Jensen will all sit on the board’s audit committee and compensation committee, the company said. Jensen…
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Kraft Heinz appoints new general counsel
Angel Shelton Willis is joining from Sealed Air Corporation The Kraft Heinz Company has recruited Angel Shelton Willis as executive vice president, global general counsel and corporate affairs officer, effective November 18. Willis is joining Kraft Heinz from Sealed Air Corporation where she has been vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary leading the company’s global legal, ethics and compliance, regulatory and corporate affairs functions since 2019. She previously spent more than 14 years at Ingersoll Rand Company (now Trane Technologies) where she held several roles, most recently as vice president and general counsel for Europe, Middle East, India and…
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ABM promotes next general counsel from within
Miranda Tolar will take up her new role in January ABM Industries is promoting Miranda Tolar to become executive vice president and general counsel, effective January 1, 2025. In her new role, Tolar will oversee legal, compliance, risk and safety issues for the company. She will succeed Andrea Newborn, who is retiring but will continue to work with the company during a transition period that ends in February 2025. Tolar joined ABM in 2011 and currently serves as senior vice president and deputy general counsel overseeing litigation and employment law. She was previously a partner in the labor and employment…
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Coherent hires former Mastercard legal chief
Rob Beard is also a former general counsel at Micron Technology Coherent Corp has recruited Rob Beard as the company’s new chief legal and global affairs officer and corporate secretary. Beard joined Coherent from Mastercard Incorporated, where also served as chief legal and global affairs officer. According to his LinkedIn profile, he had moved to Mastercard in 2023 having previously spent nine years at Micron Technology. During that time, he held a number of positions, most recently as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Before moving in-house, Beard was an associate with law firm Shearman & Sterling in…
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The week in GRC: Southwest Airlines strikes deal with Elliott and Disney names next board chair
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that Southwest Airlines and activist hedge fund firm Elliott Investment Management reached a deal to avert a proxy fight in exchange for naming six directors to the company’s board – short of board control – and an earlier retirement for executive chair Gary Kelly. As part of the deal, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan will keep his job. ‘We are pleased to have come to an agreement with Southwest on the addition of six new directors that will enhance and revitalize its board,’ Elliott’s John Pike and…
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Harris vs Trump: What should companies expect from the next US administration?
With early voting underway and election day looming in one of the closest presidential races in recent history, we look at what companies can expect from Kamala Harris or a second round of Donald Trump ‘I think we can safely say the situation is as clear as mud,’ says Charley Grant, editorial and media access director at AlphaSense, in a statement that neatly sums up the campaign landscape – even as we close in on November 5. In an election where neither candidate has a significant lead, it is expected that narrow victories in a handful of swing states will…
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Air Products files 14a-8 request over lobbying proposal
Company is seeking to omit resolution from its 2025 AGM As global corporate reporting requirements continue to expand, companies are under growing pressure to deliver disclosures that meet higher standards of reliability, transparency and detail. The upcoming Corporate Reporting Forum, taking place in New York City on November 6, 2024, aims to help reporting companies enhance their practices to provide greater strategic value. By improving the quality of corporate disclosures, we hope to support more informed decision-making and better meet the needs of public company stakeholders. One of the most anticipated sessions of the day will examine the critical role…
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‘I’m really excited about more global harmonization of disclosures and standards’: What to look out for at the Corporate Reporting Forum
Carrie Christopher speaks ahead of the upcoming event in New York hosted by Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine Air Products and Chemicals, an industrial gases company with a market capitalization of more than $70 bn, has asked the SEC for the green light to exclude from its next proxy statement a shareholder proposal seeking information about its lobbying. The proponent, John Chevedden, has filed a resolution asking that Air Products produce a report each year disclosing: ‘[Its] policy and procedures governing lobbying, both direct and indirect, and grassroots lobbying communications ‘[Its] payments used for (a) direct or indirect lobbying or…
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The week in GRC: Elliott seeks special meeting at Southwest Airlines and AI helping Treasury tackle financial fraud
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that Elliott Investment Management asked for a special meeting on December 10 at Southwest Airlines as it seeks control of the company’s board. Elliott has also trimmed the size of its board slate from 10 director candidates to eight after Southwest cut its board size from 15 to 12. Southwest’s campaign will be Elliott’s first US proxy fight since it took on Arconic in 2017. Elliott has never previously called for a special meeting, which at Southwest carries a higher threshold of approval compared with voting…