Archive
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Canadian business leaders launch anti-racism project
Move comes amid growing pressure for companies to address racial inequality A group of senior Canadian businesspeople has launched a new council and initiative aimed at increasing racial diversity among the country’s boards and executive teams. The move comes amid growing calls for governments and companies to address racial inequality following the deaths of African Americans including Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism, which is launching what it calls the BlackNorth Initiative, is founded and chaired by Wes Hall, executive chair and founder of shareholder services and governance firm…
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Prevail Therapeutics appoints general counsel
Kira Schwartz was previously senior attorney at Allergan New York-based gene therapy company Prevail Therapeutics has recruited Kira Schwartz to fill the new role of general counsel. Schwartz was previously senior vice president, associate general counsel and assistant secretary at Allergan – formerly Actavis, which adopted the Allergan name after buying it in 2015 – where she was in charge of a legal group supporting corporate governance, business development, finance, human resources, supply chain and real estate functions. Schwartz led Actavis’ $70.5 billion acquisition of Allergan as vice president and associate general counsel at Actavis. Before that, she held senior…
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How Covid-19 can shape boards’ thinking on ESG
Kaley Childs Karaffa says boards should consider embedding ESG into corporate strategy in wake of pandemic Philip Morris International (PMI) has hired Suzanne Rich Folsom as senior vice president and general counsel, leading the company’s legal, ethics and compliance function. Folsom, who recently penned an article on dealing with crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, will take up her new role on July 1. She succeeds Marc Firestone, who is retiring later this year. Firestone has since January 2018 held a dual role as general counsel and president of external affairs. He will continue to run the company’s external affairs…
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Philip Morris hires former US Steel general counsel
Suzanne Rich Folsom joins PMI from Manatt Phelps & Phillips The novel coronavirus pandemic has intensified investors’ focus on ESG practices as the outbreak has disrupted global supply chains and affected human capital management practices. This is building on what was already a growing interest among investors in ESG issues, as reflected in shareholder proposals and investment patterns over the last few years. Morningstar data shows that in the first four months of this year, investors poured roughly $12.2 billion into ESG funds, twice as much as such funds attracted during the same period last year. This highlights how important…
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Cadence hires CLO and secretary
Alinka Flaminia previously worked at Mellanox Technologies as general counsel San Jose, California-based Cadence Design Systems has hired Alinka Flaminia as senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary. In her new role, Flaminia heads the electronic design company’s global legal operations, including CSR issues, compliance and government affairs. She reports to CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence’s CEO. Flaminia joins Nasdaq-listed Cadence from Mellanox Technologies, which was recently acquired by NVIDIA Corporation, where she was senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She previously served as general counsel and corporate secretary for PMC-Sierra and was senior counsel for Xilinx.…
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Sensitive issues barge into boardroom
Companies must reassess attitudes to employee wellbeing and diversity, says Oliver Schutzmann Several factors have combined in recent weeks to push some sensitive issues onto the agendas of issuers, investors and intermediaries. The Covid-19 pandemic has shut down large parts of the global economy for months but, rather than go into deep freeze, these issues have gained a higher profile, bubbling to the surface of the news agenda and barging their way into boardrooms for urgent discussion and action. First, public health and employee welfare. For some time now, awareness and action on mental health has been addressed by corporates.…
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Influential proposal providers face uncertainty
Values-based investors have counted many recent proxy season successes in ESG matters, achieved through engagement and litigation, but that could be about to change – The Financial Times reported that US civil rights groups have received a wave of donations from companies since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. The FT found more than $450 million in pledges to groups focused on social and racial justice, which usually depend more on individual donations, often from people in disadvantaged communities. For example, Walmart and its foundation promised to put $100 million into a new racial equity center, Warner Music and Sony Music…
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The week in GRC: Companies make racial justice pledges, and activists target corporate leaders
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web On May 21, 1971, shareholders at General Motors’ (GM) annual general meeting voted on an unusual resolution put forward by the Episcopal Church. Shareholders were asked to consider whether GM should withdraw its workforce from South Africa entirely, given that ‘many potential GM customers, employees and dealers here and abroad’ would be offended by the policy of apartheid. The resolution received support from 1.29 percent of the company’s shareholders – including one board director. Several other religious groups took note, however, and supported the Episcopal Church’s antiapartheid campaign, leading…
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Investor groups ponder further action on racial inequality
Companies could face investor scrutiny on authenticity of public statements A number of socially responsible investors across America are in active discussions about how they can further support the movement to address racial inequality, in light of recent protests around the world. Investors interviewed for this article pointed to three main areas where engagement and proposal-filing activity has been channeled in the past: improving corporate diversity and inclusion programs and reporting, addressing concerns with government or police contractors and addressing the private prison system in America. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) – a coalition of more than 300…
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Denny’s appoints general counsel
Gail Sharps Myers was general counsel and secretary at American Tire Distributors Nasdaq-listed Denny’s has recruited Gail Sharps Myers as general counsel, reporting directly to CEO John Miller. Myers was previously executive vice president, general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer for American Tire Distributors. In that position she led the company’s corporate governance and compliance functions and handled financial reporting, M&A, labor and employment, real estate, litigation, data privacy and government affairs issues. Before that, she was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Snyder’s-Lance. Earlier in her career Myers served as senior vice president, deputy general counsel…