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Goldman Sachs scraps formal DEI metrics for board evaluations
The investment bank becomes the latest corporation to retreat from formal DEI initiatives in the US The Goldman Sachs Group plans to scrap DEI criteria from the way it evaluates potential board members, a move that aligns with a general pullback on formal diversity initiatives across the corporate US. According to The Wall Street Journal, the bank will no longer explicitly factor race, gender or sexual orientation into its board selection framework, shifting its focus to professional experience or other qualifications instead. It marks a clear change in tone from prior years, when many large US companies publicly embraced measurable…
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People moves: Irving Gomez joins Teradata as head of legal and corporate secretary
Plus Gemini, Martin Marietta Materials and Markel Insurance bolster their legal teams Irving Gomez, VP, deputy general counsel and secretary at PagerDuty, has left his role at the cloud computing company. Announcing the move in a LinkedIn post, Gomez confirmed his departure after four and half years with the company. He will join NYSE-listed Teradata as its new SVP, global head of legal and corporate secretary. Speaking on his time with PagerDuty, he writes: ‘I’m deeply thankful to our CEO, CFO and the entire leadership team for their trust, partnership and steady leadership. And to the broader PagerDuty team: thank…
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How activist investors could turn AI use into a governance test
Shareholders and courts may scrutinize whether directors are meeting their fiduciary duty by failing to use tools that are central to effective oversight Activist investors may soon begin scrutinizing how boards use AI as closely as they do ESG and cyber-security, according to Nithya Das, general manager, governance and chief legal officer at Diligent. She says that the issue is not efficiency, but fiduciary effectiveness. Das believes transparency demands around AI will focus on whether directors are fully using available tools to meet their duties. ‘With AI tools, it’s much easier to collect data, benchmark, conduct research and perform scenario…
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The week in GRC: Texas anti-ESG law deemed ‘unconstitutional’ by district judge as activist pushes Warner Bros to consider Paramount bid
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – A federal judge in Texas has ruled a state law targeting ESG investment practices unconstitutional, marking a significant setback for state efforts to regulate corporate sustainability policies. The law, passed in 2021 as Senate Bill 13, restricted the state’s ability to invest in, or contract with companies that it said were boycotting the fossil fuel industry, effectively pressuring financial firms to avoid certain ESG-related criteria. As reported by Reuters (paywall) on February 5, US District Judge Alan Albright ruled the statute violated the First Amendment, calling it ‘facially…
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Atkins aims to ‘make IPOs great again’ with rejection of ‘woke’ priorities as public listings stall
SEC chairman says reviving the US IPO market will require stripping politics out of corporate governance In a February episode of the Pod Force One podcast, Atkins made headlines with a bold mission: to ‘make IPOs great again’ by addressing what he sees as regulatory and cultural barriers that have discouraged companies from going public. His comments indicate a change in how the SEC plans to support capital formation in the US. Atkins told host Miranda Devine that IPO activity in recent years has been depressed in part because companies are repelled by what he described as ‘mayhem’ in governance…
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People moves: Kyndryl names interim general counsel amid CFO departure and accounting review
Plus Cloudflare, Milestone Pharmaceuticals and Viatris make new leadership changes IT Infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has appointed Mark Ringes as interim general counselfollowing the departure of Edward Sebold. Prior to his appointment, Ringes has served as the company’s SVP, deputy general counsel since 2024. Before joining Kyndryl, he served as VP, assistant general counsel at IBM for over 25 years. Sebold’s exit coincides with the departure of CFO David Wyshnerand a change in role for Vineet Khurana, who has stepped down from his position as SVP and global controller to assume a different role at Kyndryl. They are succeeded respectively…
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Delaware Supreme Court reversal on Moelis case to reshape stockholder agreement risk
The latest decision sets a new benchmark for how long-standing governance arrangements can be challenged Last month, the Delaware Supreme Court unanimously reversed a closely watched Court of Chancery decision involving Moelis & Company and its stockholder agreement. The lower court had invalidated key provisions of that agreement, finding that they improperly restricted the board of directors’ authority under Delaware law. The Supreme Court resolved the case on narrower procedural grounds and did not reach that core governance question. Instead, it held that the challenged provisions were voidable – rather than void – and that the stockholder’s lawsuit was brought…
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‘You sit down with tax collectors and prostitutes’: How Bowyer Research is reshaping proxy voting on the right
Sister title IR Impact talks to the family shop wielding outsized influence with its ESG-skeptic voting policies Bowyer Research first came to the attention of IR Impact – and many on the mainstream governance scene – when the firm’s ESG-skeptic voting policies were picked up by ISS. Today, those policies are available through all the major proxy voting advisory firms and Bowyer Research, which is essentially a mom-and-pop (plus kids) shop run out of Pennsylvania, advises many millions of dollars, including the $57 bn Texas Permanent School Fund. Jerry Bowyer, who co-founded the firm with wife Susan, feels the right…
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The week in GRC: Disney adds three anti-ESG proposals to 2026 AGM as the FTC issues warnings to law firms over DEI practices
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Walt Disney Company has agreed to include three SEC shareholder proposals from anti-ESG proponents in its 2026 AGM materials after previously filing ‘no-action’ requests to exclude them. Disney’s AGM is scheduled for 18 March 2026 and will feature four proposals in total, with three backed by groups such as the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) and Bowyer Research. The moves follow the SEC’s decision not to respond to no-action requests during the 2026 proxy season, leaving companies with greater…
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AI is already embedded in the boardroom, but inaction is the greater liability, governance experts warn
As companies continue to experiment with AI, the topic of what its role means for governance was the focus of a recent Governance Intelligence briefing AI is no longer a future consideration for boards but very much a current concern. According to speakers at Governance Intelligence’s briefing – AI in the boardroom: what governance teams need to know in 2026 – held in partnership withDiligent, the technology is already embedded in boardroom behavior. The speakers agreed that the real risk for governance professionals heading into 2026 is not misuse, but inaction. From the outset, the most striking takeaway was the…