Archive
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Games company Unity hires general counsel
Anirma Gupta was previously with 3D printing company Carbon San Francisco-based tech firm Unity has hired Anirma Gupta as senior vice president and general counsel. In her new role, she reports directly to Unity CEO John Riccitiello. Gupta was previously chief legal officer at 3D printing technology company Carbon, where she advised the company and board on business strategy, managing global compliance and legal issues associated with a growth stage company. Before her time with Carbon, Gupta was general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at Tanium. According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously spent 11 years at Intuit…
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Governance in 2023: Value(s) added
Ben Maiden investigates how corporate values on issues such as reproductive rights and executive compensation are set to feature prominently in 2023 Large US companies continue to face pressure to take public positions on a range of political and social issues such as reproductive rights and racial equity. Some of those that have done somay think twiceabout doing so again after feeling the hot breath of pushback from lawmakers or the internet. But investors and shareholder advocacy groups won’t face such impediments in the coming proxy season and are expected to push companies on their values. In the wake of…
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ImmunoGen hires legal chief
Daniel Char was previously general counsel at Evelo Biosciences Nasdaq-listed ImmunoGen has hired Daniel Char as senior vice president and chief legal officer. Char previously worked at Evelo Biosciences as general counsel and corporate secretary, providing counsel and operational support on business and legal issues such as business development, commercialization, healthcare fraud and intellectual property. Before joining Evelo, he was associate general counsel and assistant secretary at Smith+Nephew, having previously been general counsel and secretary at Targanta Therapeutics, senior associate general counsel at Idenix Pharmaceuticals and associate general counsel at Biogen. Daniel Char Char succeeds Joseph Kenny, who has been…
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SNC-Lavalin appoints general counsel
Andrée-Claude Bérubé has been with the company since 2020 Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin has appointed Andrée-Claude Bérubé as executive vice president and general counsel, effective December 1. Bérubé will report to president and CEO Ian Edwards. Bérubé joined the company in 2020 as associate general counsel and corporate secretary. ‘She has been working closely with the board of directors and the business to improve the company’s governance practices and move SNC-Lavalin closer to best-in-class standards,’ the company says in announcing the appointment. ‘She has recently led the legal team’s strategic transformation, implementing digital technologies and efficiency-driven initiatives to better serve the business.’…
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ESG disclosures: The red flags investors look for
Experts reveal how investors are integrating ESG into their investment decisions ‘When we’re looking at ESG and sustainability reports, I’d say the big red flags are lots of case studies, lots of qualitative information, not much quantitative information and lots of pictures,’ said Nick Spooner, climate change engagement specialist at Robeco. ‘Those are all indications that a company doesn’t have very much to say.’ Nick Spooner, Robeco Spooner was speaking as part of a panel at the ESG Integration Forum – Europe. The session aimed at shedding some light on what investors are looking for from companies when it comes…
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Key takeaways from the ESG Integration Forum – Europe
Industry experts discuss key factors surrounding the ESG movement, from regulation challenges to data collection, at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary event Leading IR, sustainability and governance professionals gathered in London this week to share insights and expertise on ESG issues facing UK and EU companies. The ESG movement is facing challenges with increased scrutiny from regulators and investors, as well as political backlash. But ESG issues remain top of mind for stakeholders and shareholders. The forum was an opportunity to hear different perspectives and stories about ESG integration from corporates, investors and IROs. It looked at where the ESG…
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Governance professionals guide on preparing for 2023: Part 3
Preparing for SEC climate change requirements The SEC’s landmark rulemaking on climate change has not yet been finalized but governance professionals say companies can and should be getting ready to comply. The topic was among those discussed at the recent Corporate Secretary Forum in New York, where professionals gathered to share their insights on issues affecting the community going into 2023. The SEC in March proposed rule changes that would require companies to disclose information about their governance of climate-related risks and how any climate-related risks have had or are likely to have a material impact on their business. As…
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The week in GRC: DoL opens door for 401(k) plans to offer ESG funds and Disney’s board brings back Iger
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that Walt Disney Co’s board of directors replaced CEO Bob Chapek with Robert Iger, the company’s former chair and CEO who left the company at the end of last year. ‘The board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period,’ board chair Susan Arnold said in a statement. ‘We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating…
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Opinion: Regulatory ‘Band Aids’ won’t cure climate change inaction
Veena Ramani comments on the regulatory lessons for companies – and regulators – of the COP27 summit Put your money where your mouth is. That is the blunt message from global regulators to companies at last week’s COP27 summit in Egypt.Recognizing that most corporate net-zero targets are lacking, new reports from the UN and the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) are calling on companies to back their net-zero goals with robust climate transition plans. Importantly, the proposals urge companies to provide details on planned capital expenditures and investments to execute the plans. Elsewhere, the SEC’s proposed climate change disclosure rule…
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Governance professionals guide on preparing for 2023: Part 2
More insight from Corporate Secretary’s recent forum in New York There has been a proliferation of what some observers call ‘anti-ESG’ shareholder proposals – those that are very similar to other ESG resolutions but come from conservative proponents – and there is a widely held expectation that they will be a feature of the upcoming proxy season. This topic was among those discussed at the recent Corporate Secretary Forum in New York, where governance professionals gathered to share their insights on issues affecting the community going into 2023. The recent spike in anti-ESG shareholder proposals has been primarily – though…