Ben Maiden and Ben Ashwell
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The week in GRC: GOP-led states sue over SEC climate rules and DoJ plans to pay more whistleblowers on corporate crime
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web NYSE-listed Elanco Animal Health has promoted Shiv O’Neill to become executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. In her new role, O’Neill is responsible for the global strategy and operations of the company’s legal team, ethics & compliance organization and ESG efforts. Most recently, she was vice president and deputy general counsel for the Americas at Elanco. In that position she led the strategy and operations of Elanco’s commercial and regulatory legal team in the Americas and provided strategic advice and counsel to company leaders in its US…
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SEC’s climate rule leaves questions over future
Revised version does not appease some on either side of debate over reforms The reaction to the SEC’s 3-2 decision to approve climate-disclosure rule changes suggests the vote may not be the end of the story in terms of either pressure for further regulation or potential efforts to overturn the agency’s actions. In the meantime, governance professionals will be looking at their next steps in terms of compliance. The SEC’s rulemaking has been the subject of a wide array of often strong opinions, including around 24,000 comment letters and threats of litigation to overturn the rule changes. The decision to…
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Pfizer faces vote on human rights proposal
Resolution includes call for board oversight of human rights due diligence Pfizer is set to face a shareholder vote this proxy season on a proposal regarding human rights after it unsuccessfully sought SEC no-action relief to omit the resolution. The measure urges Pfizer’s board ‘to oversee conduct of human rights due diligence (HRDD) to produce a human rights impact assessment covering Pfizer’s operations, activities, business relationships and products… The [assessment] should describe actual and potential adverse human rights impacts identified in the course of HRDD, identify rightsholders that were consulted and discuss whether and how the results of the [assessment]…
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Walgreens hires legal chief from Ecolab
Lanesha Minnix to join the company on April 15 Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has named Lanesha Minnix as the company’s next global chief legal officer (CLO) and executive vice president, effective April 15. Minnix will join WBA from Ecolab, where she has been executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She will report to WBA chief executive Tim Wentworth and oversee the company’s global legal, compliance, corporate governance and corporate security functions. According to her LinkedIn profile, Minnix joined Ecolab in 2022. Before that she was senior vice president and CLO for Flowserve, leading the company’s legal, compliance and…
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The week in GRC: New York attorney general accuses JBS of greenwashing and Norfolk Southern plans board refresh
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block Kroger’s $25 bn bid for Albertsons, raising questions about one of the largest ever supermarket deals. The FTC in its lawsuit said the deal would result in higher food prices and lower wages for employees and asked a court to block the companies from closing their deal on antitrust grounds. The companies’ plan to address the government’s concerns by selling stores in Washington, Colorado and other states would not solve the problem, the…
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Boeing defense unit general counsel to become company’s HR chief
Uma Amuluru is a former prosecutor and White House attorney Boeing is promoting the general counsel of its defense business to become the company’s chief human resources officer and executive vice president, effective April 1. Uma Amuluru is currently vice present and general counsel to Boeing defense, space and security. She will succeed Michael D’Ambrose, who has announced his plan to retire. In her new role, Amuluru will be responsible for Boeing’s talent planning, global talent acquisition, learning and development, compensation and benefits, employee and labor relations and diversity and inclusion initiatives. She will report to Boeing president and CEO…
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Vail Resorts appoints general counsel from in-house
Julie DeCecco has been with the company since 2017 NYSE-listed Vail Resorts has promoted Julie DeCecco to general counsel and executive vice president. DeCecco was previously the company’s deputy general counsel and vice president. She joined Vail Resorts in 2017 as associate general counsel and the following year was promoted to deputy general counsel. She oversees legal matters for the company’s corporate functions in addition to its mountain division, comprising 41 mountain resorts across 15 states and four countries. She also heads up the company’s real estate division and previously led community relations. Before joining Vail Resorts, DeCecco was associate…
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The week in GRC: DoJ appoints first AI officer and full appeals court to consider challenge to Nasdaq board diversity rule
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that a challenge by conservative groups to a Nasdaq rule requiring companies to disclose board diversity or lack thereof will be reconsidered by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals after an earlier panel of the court upheld the requirement. The rule approved by the SEC in August 2021 requires companies listed on Nasdaq to have one director who identifies as female, a member of an under-represented racial or ethnic minority or LGBTQ+ designation or explain why they do not. More than two thirds of…
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Early filers showing variety in new 10K cyber-disclosures
SEC rules came into effect at the start of 2024 Companies that are among the first to file their Form 10Ks under new SEC cyber-security rules are taking different approaches as governance professionals seek the best ways to comply. An analysis by DragonGC of filings from almost 30 large public companies shows that although some commonalities are emerging in terms of new disclosures, there are frequent differences in specificities and the degree of detail firms are including in the forms. The analysis is based on filings made between the start of 2024, when the rules went into force, and earlier…
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HPE appoints new general counsel
David Antczak is a company veteran Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has appointed David Antczak as its new senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, following the recent departure of Rishi Varma to Cargill. Antczak is named in his new role in HPE’s 2024 proxy statement, filed earlier this month. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has been with the company for almost nine years and before that was with HP for more than four years before the two companies were separated. Most recently Antczak was head of HPE’s global workplace organization, a role in which he was responsible for…