Archive
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Bio-Techne names successor general counsel
Brenda Furlow to retire next month Shane Bohnen is being promoted to become senior vice president and general counsel at Bio-Techne Corporation on March 3. He will succeed Brenda Furlow, who is retiring from the company having been executive vice president and general counsel for the past nine years. Furlow has provided and will continue to provide transition support until her retirement on March 3 and will work in a consulting capacity for special projects in the future. Bohnen has been Bio-Techne’s associate general counsel since joining the company in 2019. During his time with the company he has led…
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Former Facebook general counsel to join Etsy
Colin Stretch starts work with the company later this month Brooklyn, New York-based Etsy has recruited Colin Stretch as chief legal officer and corporate secretary, effective February 14. Stretch’s experience includes being general counsel of Facebook (now Meta Platforms) between 2013 and 2019, during which time he led the company’s legal, compliance and corporate legal affairs functions. After leaving Facebook, he spent two years as leader-in-residence at Columbia University Law School’s Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character & Leadership and, most recently, he was of counsel at law firm Latham & Watkins. Earlier in his career, Stretch clerked for US…
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Webinar wrap: Developments in ESG disclosures
Experts discuss best practices and evolving frameworks for reporting The demand for ESG disclosures is growing rapidly from investors and other stakeholders, but there remains wide variations in how companies report and use data. Corporate Secretary sister publication IR Magazine recently hosted a webinar in partnership with Broadridge to discuss progress toward standardization and what impact it will have. Here we present some of the panelists’ insights. ‘NOT QUITE THERE YET’ ‘I would say we are on a path to standardization, perhaps even global standardization, but [we’re] not quite there yet,’ said Joseph Vicari, managing director and ESG practice lead…
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The week in GRC: Norway’s SWF warns directors on climate change and activists ‘swarm’ some companies
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that Nissan Motor Co and Renault agreed to a sweeping overhaul of their two-decade-old automaking alliance that will put them on equal footing and see the Japanese company invest in Renault’s new electric vehicle business. The deal, which is subject to board approvals, will entail Renault reducing its stake in Nissan to 15 percent from around 43 percent, the firm said. That will see Renault put around 28 percent of the Japanese automaker in a French trust, making the two more equal partners. Nissan and…
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Governance Matters podcast: How women directors can navigate a ‘double bind’
This episode of the Governance Matters podcast looks at academic research revealing how women can negotiate traditional social expectations to have more influence in the boardroom In recent years investors, regulators, lawmakers and other stakeholders have all been pushing for broader representation of women on boards. Progress has been made, but it’s not easy. As one headline in Fortune noted last year, ‘Women hold a record number of corporate board seats. The bad news: it’s barely over 25 percent, and it’s slowing down.’ Progress also remains a challenge beyond the numbers of board seats women fill. Dr Tiffany Trzebiatowski, assistant…
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Walmart’s general counsel retires
Karen Roberts joined the company 27 years ago Chubb and The Travelers Companies are asking the SEC for the green light to exclude shareholder proposals relating to their financing activities and climate change. The proposals reflect a focus among some investors and shareholder groups on the underwriting activities of major insurance companies in terms of fossil fuel projects. One proposal filed ahead of Chubb’s 2023 AGM by As You Sow asks that the insurer issue a report ‘disclosing 1.5[°C]-aligned medium and long-term [greenhouse gas (GHG)] targets for its underwriting, insuring and investment activities.’ It recommends that the report disclose, at…
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Chubb and Travelers aim to exclude climate change proposals
Proponents worried about financing activities Karen Roberts has retired this week as Walmart executive vice president and general counsel. Roberts joined Walmart in 1995 and initially worked in its real estate business, rising to the position of vice president and general counsel of Walmart Realty and later president of that business. In that role she was responsible for Walmart’s real estate operations and a portfolio of almost 1 bn square feet. According to her LinkedIn profile, she became executive vice president and general counsel of the company in December 2012. In addition to being responsible for legal and compliance matters,…
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Amazon seeks to block Scope 3 emissions shareholder proposal
Shareholder groups expand disclosure requests related to climate change Amazon.com has asked the SEC for the go-ahead to exclude a shareholder proposal about its Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its 2023 AGM. The resolution comes from co-lead filers Green Century Capital Management and Amalgamated Bank as the trustee of the LongView LargeCap 500 Index. Specifically, it asks that ‘Amazon measure and disclose Scope 3 GHG emissions from its full value chain inclusive of its physical stores and e-commerce operations and all products that it sells directly and those sold by third-party vendors.’ In a supporting statement, the proponents…
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California water utility hires next general counsel
Shawn Bunting will join California Water Service Group in March NYSE-listed California Water Service Group has picked Shawn Bunting to become vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective March 1. He will succeed Lynne McGhee, who will retire after more than 19 years with the company. Bunting will join California Water Service Group from American Water Works Company, where he has been a member of the company’s legal leadership team for nearly 15 years. He was initially general counsel for three of American’s five operating divisions, including its largest utilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 2015, Bunting was…
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Managements feel unprepared for SEC’s climate rule, survey finds
ESG disclosures remain significant factor in investment decisions, despite pushback Most management teams feel unprepared for the looming SEC rule on climate-related disclosures, according to a new survey by ICR. Nearly eight in 10 management teams (78 percent) express concerns about reporting ESG-related risks and strategies because of the forthcoming SEC rule. If approved, it would require companies to disclose information about their governance of climate-related risks and how these have had, or are likely to have, a material impact on their business. Despite uncertainty around the rule’s final scope and the timing of when it is approved, governance professionals…
