Ben Maiden and Ben Ashwell
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The week in GRC: NBIM will continue to advocate for ESG goals and Glass Lewis urges Shell investors to oppose climate proposal
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) says it will continue to advocate for investments based on ESG factors despite political backlash. Analysts expect the outcome of this year’s US presidential election to determine whether the pushback against ESG investment strategies will have a deep and lasting effect. Nicolai Tangen, CEO of NBIM, said the sovereign wealth fund continued to push for the ESG agenda. ‘We think it is part of long-term investing,’ he said. ‘You really need to care [about] the impact companies have on the…
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Lobbying proposal gains traction at Goldman Sachs AGM
Resolution supported by almost 40 percent of votes cast A shareholder proposal seeking insight into Goldmans Sachs’ lobbying activities garnered substantial – though not majority – support at the bank’s AGM last week. According to an SEC filing, 39.4 percent of votes cast at the April 24 meeting backed the proposal, a level of support governance professionals generally regard as significant. Essentially the same proposal attracted 35.6 percent of votes at last year’s AGM. The resolution, filed by John Chevedden and Oblate International Pastoral Investment Trust, asks that Goldman Sachs prepare a report each year disclosing: ‘Company policy and procedures…
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Disney attorney to join Sony Pictures as general counsel
Jill Ratner has also worked at 21st Century Fox Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has hired Jill Ratner as executive vice president and general counsel, effective May 28. Ratner will join Sony Pictures from The Walt Disney Company, where she has been deputy general counsel since 2019. At Disney, she has global responsibility for the company’s litigation, intellectual property (IP) and digital anti-piracy functions and leads legal support for the company’s social responsibility operations. According to an SPE announcement, her experience includes copyright, trademark, First Amendment, contract disputes, employment, antitrust, securities and class action matters. In her new role, Ratner will…
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IBM hires Vanguard general counsel as new legal chief
Anne Robinson succeeds Michelle Browdy, who is retiring IBM has hired Anne Robinson as senior vice president and chief legal officer, effective July 1. Robinson will join IBM from Vanguard, where she has been general counsel and secretary of the Vanguard funds since 2016. In that role she has led Vanguard’s global public policy, legal, compliance and investment stewardship functions. She will succeed Michelle Browdy, who earlier this year told IBM she planned to retire from her role as senior vice president for legal and regulatory affairs and general counsel, a role she took up in 2015.Robinson was previously managing…
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The week in GRC: FTC approves ban on non-compete agreements and CEO turnover spikes in Q1
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the – The Financial Times (paywall) reported that the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is developing proposals aimed at ensuring asset managers do not seek too much influence over the banks in which they hold large stakes. Republican board member Jonathan McKernan and Democratic chair Martin Gruenberg are each drafting measures that would demand new requirements of funds that hold more than 10 percent of a bank’s shares to make sure they remain passive investors. The FDIC’s interest has caused concern in the asset management sector. Industry groups argue that…
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Walmart faces vote on ‘living wage’ proposal
Resolution calls for board and management to set ‘wage policies that are consistent with fiduciary duties’ Walmart investors appear set to vote on a proposal aimed at the company’s wage policies after the SEC declined to give it the green light to exclude the measure from its proxy statement. The proposal, filed by The Shareholder Commons (TSC) on behalf of Legal & General Investment Management America, requests that Walmart’s board and management ‘exercise their discretion to establish company wage policies that are consistent with fiduciary duties and reasonably designed to provide workers with the minimum earnings necessary to meet a…
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Zoetis general counsel steps down
Heidi Chen has been with the company and its former parent Pfizer for more than two decades Zoetis has announced in an SEC filing that Heidi Chen has stepped down as executive vice president, general counsel & corporate secretary and business lead of human health diagnostics, effective April 16. The filing states that Chen will continue as an employee adviser of the company until July 16 this year, after which it is anticipated she will be a non-employee consultant. According to her LinkedIn profile, Chen has been with Zoetis for almost 12 years. She took up her most recent position…
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The week in GRC: NBIM to back CEO/chair split at Goldman Sachs and DoJ to offer some whistleblowers immunity under pilot program
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that a conservative federal appeals court judge argued that judicial policymakers wrongly gave in to political pressure to curtail ‘judge shopping’ with a policy change that would deter right-leaning litigants from steering cases to preferred judges. US Circuit Judge James Ho said the US Judicial Conference’s new judicial assignment policy undercut the judiciary’s independence by giving in to critics engaged in ‘forum shaming’. ‘Judges are supposed to follow the law, not distort the rules to avoid criticism,’ Ho said, according to prepared remarks. ‘The last…
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Broadridge hires next legal chief
Hope Jarkowski succeeds Keir Gumbs, who joined Edward Jones as general counsel late last year Broadridge Financial Solutions has recruited Hope Jarkowski to become its new chief legal officer (CLO), effective May 6. She will join Broadridge from the NYSE, where she has been general counsel since 2022. Jarkowski succeeds Keir Gumbs, who was Broadridge’s CLO until November 2023 when he joined Edward Jones as general counsel to lead the firm’s legal and compliance teams. Before becoming NYSE general counsel, Jarkowski was head of equities for the exchange, with responsibility for strategy, product development and relationship management across the NYSE’s…
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The week in GRC: SBTi faces pushback over new offsets policy and Macy’s settles proxy fight with Arkhouse
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web ‒The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued two proposals that would require audit firms to disclose metrics on the involvement and turnover of their auditors and provide new details on fees and cyber-security vulnerabilities. Audit firms at present must publicly identify the lead partner on the audits they perform and the other firms that helped with that work. Firms also share information each year such as a list of their public company audit clients and the addresses of their offices. Some…