Regulatory & Compliance

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that CalPERS said in an open letter it would vote in opposition to all of ExxonMobil’s 12 director nominees and its CEO, Darren Woods, at the company’s AGM next week as a result of the company’s potentially ‘devastating’ actions against two environmentally focused activist investors, Arjuna Capital and Follow This. The two activists submitted a shareholder proposal requesting that the company reduce direct emissions and set a target for lowering emissions at suppliers and customers. ExxonMobil sued the investors, prompting them to withdraw the proposal but…

Panel looks at next steps for companies amid uncertainty about requirements Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine, in partnership with Broadridge, recently hosted a webinar in which a panel of experts shared their insights on what boards and governance teams are considering about the SEC’s climate disclosure rules and the next steps they should be taking. Although there continues to be uncertainty about the future of the rules, which are being challenged in court, and companies find themselves in widely different circumstances, the panel underlined the need for the rules to be taken seriously alongside regulatory developments across the world. Here…

Most companies will align with the EU’s landmark ESG regulation regardless of whether it applies to them, according to poll New research shows that the majority – 81 percent – of companies not subject to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) intend to meet its disclosure requirements in some shape or form. The survey of more than 2,000 people working in corporate reporting, sustainability or related functions carried out by Workiva also finds that respondents almost unanimously consider meeting the demands of mandates such as the CSRD as the most pressing challenge ahead of them. Those polled by Workiva…

Steve Soter of Workiva on adapting to the world of non-financial information, CSRD as the global standard and the importance of plain English How do you become (what we’re calling in this series of articles) an SEC ‘influencer’? Whatever those influencers’ background or current position, the thread running through this series is a passion for all things reporting. And Steve Soter, a vice president and industry principal at Workiva, certainly fits the bill. Talking about how he came to the world of SEC filings, he explains that he studied accounting and became an auditor before quickly moving into financial reporting…

Society for Corporate Governance, NIRI and NYSE write to the SEC calling for new rulemaking process A new effort is under way in the US market to make investment firms disclose their equity holdings in a more timely fashion. The Society for Corporate Governance, NIRI and the NYSE have jointly petitioned the SEC to reduce the deadline for 13F filings, which currently stands at 45 days after the end of each quarter. 13F filings are one of the main ways market participants, from issuers to other investors and academics, understand what buying and selling is taking place within the US…

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…

Deep Quarry founder Olga Usvyatsky talks about what transparency really means, how companies can prepare for new rules that bring potentially big change and why risk factors need to be more specific When you’ve spent years focused on the depth of numbers in SEC filings, you come to appreciate what transparency really means, says Olga Usvyatsky, founder of Deep Quarry, a filings site and newsletter on Substack. She’s a former vice president of research at Audit Analytics, who came to the world of 8Ks, 10Ks and everything in between through her work in data analytics. She’s also one of a…

Collaboration is key, say speakers at recent Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine webinar As regulators and market operators around the world tighten their requirements for companies’ ESG reporting standards, many corporate teams are re-evaluating how their organization handles sustainability data management in an effort to render the – often complicated – process as manageable as possible. This was the task ahead of the panelists on a recent Governance Intelligence and IR Magazine webinar, titled ‘How to take control of your ESG data-management processes’. To start, Sarah Fortt, partner at Latham & Watkins, laid the groundwork for discussion by delving into…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that cloud communications company Twilio appointed a partner at Sachem Head Capital Management to its board amid pressure from several activist investment firms to make changes. Twilio added Andy Stafman and expanded the size of the board to 10 people. The change removes the chance of a boardroom challenge from Sachem Head in 2024 when three Twilio directors, including CEO Khozema Shipchandler and board chair Jeff Epstein, are scheduled to stand for election. Twilio has come under pressure from activist investors including Legion Partners and…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that Boeing’s board has begun the search for a new leader at the company following the tenure of CEO Dave Calhoun, with many industry executives and analysts predicting it will seek an outside candidate. Boeing on Monday announced a broader than expected shake-up, with Calhoun stepping down by year-end on the heels of the company’s commercial plane-making head and its chair. The new CEO will face challenges such as improving the company’s safety culture, addressing quality issues and regaining the trust of regulators, customers and…