Archive
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Important ESG factors reviewed by RBC GAM for the 2022 proxy season
RBC Global Asset Management’s Nureen Nagra talks about changing guidelines on diversity and inclusion, climate change and Covid-19/executive compensation The proxy voting season is the time from April to June where many publicly traded companies host their AGMs. This is also the time when shareholders, or their delegated proxy, vote on issues put forth on the company’s ballot. In the case of mutual funds, when investee companies have their AGMs, the asset manager may vote proxies on behalf of the funds’ unitholders. As a result, proxy voting can be an important aspect to consider when choosing an asset manager. Through…
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JetBlue promotes senior in-house attorney
Renée Anckner has been with the airline since 2017 JetBlue Airways has promoted Renée Anckner to become vice president and associate general counsel with the airline. In this role, Anckner is the company’s principal compliance and privacy officer. She continues to report to JetBlue general counsel and corporate secretary Brandon Nelson and remains primary counsel for the commercial and infrastructure departments at JetBlue on transactional, corporate and contractual matters. She now also supports JetBlue and its board as assistant secretary. Anckner joined JetBlue in 2017 as director and corporate counsel for infrastructure, properties and development. She had previously been outside…
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The week in GRC: S&P 500 sees important board diversity step and data shows gender pay gap starts early in careers
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNN reported that, for the first time, every company listed on the S&P 500 has at least one racially or ethnically diverse director. Roughly 11 percent of S&P boards were non-diverse in 2020. Monday also marked an important deadline for all Nasdaq-listed companies: they must complete a board diversity matrix that includes the total number of company board members and how those board members self-identify regarding gender, race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ status. The results will be made public through annual meeting proxy statements or on company websites. Starting…
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Climate lobbying proposal attracts support at Tesla AGM
Vote comes on heels of another landmark proxy season for ESG proposals More than a third of votes at Tesla’s AGM last week went for a shareholder proposal seeking a report on climate-related lobbying. According to an SEC filing, 34.6 percent of the votes cast on August 4 were in favor of the resolution – a level of support governance and proxy season observers generally regard as significant. It asks the electric vehicle company’s board to ‘conduct an evaluation and issue a report… describing if, and how, Tesla’s lobbying and policy influence activities (direct and through trade associations and social…
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Making the most of investor engagement
Jane Storero shares advice for governance teams on boards communicating with shareholders As asset owners around the world pledge formal commitments to net-zero, data from Cerulli Associates shows that those in the US are lagging behind peers in Europe and Asia. Cerulli finds that 44 percent of asset owners in Asia have pledged formal net-zero commitments, closely followed by 43 percent in Europe but less than a third (32 percent) in the US. The new report, titled Net-zero investment, looks at how institutions’ own reporting requirements are becoming more ‘stringent’ as they increasingly seek out data to report on ESG…
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US asset owners lag on net-zero commitments, study shows
Globally, asset owners ‘ramping up efforts to mitigate climate change,’ Cerulli white paper notes Shareholder engagement should be top of mind for public companies now more than ever before – and getting it right requires careful work by in-house governance and other teams. The heightened need for engagement is due to a combination of factors including the lasting effects of the pandemic and resulting economic issues such as inflation and market volatility, the increased focus on ESG issues, growing numbers of shareholder proposals and renewed efforts by shareholder activists. Engagement, if done well, puts the company in a better position…
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Opinion: DoJ puts CCOs in enforcement firing line
New certification requirement creates risks for those leading efforts to promote compliance and company reforms, say Karma Farra, Michael Mann and Timothy Treanor For companies subject to federal criminal enforcement actions in the US, the responsibilities of the CEO and chief compliance officer (CCO) to lead and manage corporate compliance reform apparently were not substantial enough for the US Department of Justice (DoJ). These leaders must now put their personal stamps of approval on the company’s remediation efforts and expose themselves to the risk of prosecution for doing so. Under the DoJ’s new compliance certification requirement, CEOs and CCOs must…
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The week in GRC: US companies face year-round wildfire threat and S&P 500 firms face more shareholder proposals
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) imposed a $30 mn fine on the cryptocurrency trading unit of online brokerage Robinhood Markets for alleged violations of anti-money-laundering and cyber-security regulations. It is the department’s first crypto-related enforcement action. NYDFS said Robinhood Crypto failed to maintain and certify compliant anti-money-laundering and cyber-security programs. As part of the consent order, Robinhood will also be required to retain an independent consultant to evaluate its compliance with the department’s regulations and its remediation…
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MUFG hires risk chief for US securities operations
Denis McHugh was previously enterprise head of market risk management for BMO Financial Group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has recruited Denis McHugh as chief risk officer (CRO) for MUFG Securities Americas and market risk management officer for MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, effective August 30. McHugh will be based in New York and report to Brian Gunn, CRO for MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, and Yasutaka Suehiro, CEO for MUFG Securities Americas. He will also report to Osamu Nakajima, international CRO for MUFG. In his new position, McHugh will be responsible for providing strategic direction for risk management for MUFG Securities…
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FanDuel promotes CCO to chief legal officer
Carolyn Renzin adds legal role to compliance responsibilities Far fewer boards at companies in North America are linking their executives’ compensation to ESG than are their peers in Europe, according to new research.A study conducted by Corporate Secretary finds that 60 percent of governance professional respondents in Europe say their board ties executive compensation to ESG, compared with just 37 percent of those in North America. A growing number of investors are keen to see ESG being brought into the executive compensation fold as a means to incentivize management to reach goals such as enhancing diversity or reducing greenhouse gas…