Archive
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Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals promotes general counsel
Patrick O’Brien joined the company in December 2014 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has promoted Patrick O’Brien to become general counsel and COO, effective July 15, according to an SEC filing. The regulatory filing states that O’Brien, in addition to his new roles, will continue to carry out the functions of chief compliance officer (CCO) and corporate secretary for the Pasadena, California-based company. O’Brien joined Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in December 2014 and was previously general counsel, corporate secretary and CCO. Before joining the company, from 2012 to 2014 he worked at pharmaceutical company Shire as group vice president for law. Patrick O’Brien Before his…
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The week in GRC: Financial firms turn to crime-detecting AI and companies will have to disclose supply-chain financing details
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters reported that Suncor Energy said it had added three new independent directors and would review a possible sale of its downstream retail business as part of an agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management. Canada’s third-largest oil producer had faced pressure from Elliott over its operational and safety records. The investor had been urging Suncor to bring on board new directors and undergo a management and strategic review. Suncor named industry veterans Ian Ashby, Chris Seasons and Jackie Sheppard as its new independent directors. Seasons and Sheppard…
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Johnson & Johnson names successor to veteran general counsel
Michael Ullmann retiring from position after 33 years with the firm Elizabeth Forminard will take over as general counsel at Johnson & Johnson in October this year. She will succeed Michael Ullmann, who is retiring from his position as executive vice president and general counsel at the end of 2022 after 33 years with the company. Ullmann and Forminard will work together during a transition period until his retirement at the end of 2022. Forminard has worked at Johnson & Johnson for 16 years, during which time she has been general counsel across each of the company’s pharmaceutical, consumer health…
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ESG Integration Forum – Summer: Finding the road ahead amid headwinds
Panelists at event in New York advise governance and IR professionals on meeting ESG challenges Skepticism about ESG has presented itself recently in some high-profile examples of investors and lawmakers pushing back against what they view as putting values above value. But alongside another groundbreaking proxy season in 2022, discussions both on and around panels at Corporate Secretary and sister publication IR Magazine’s ESG Integration Forum – Summer last Thursday highlighted the continued need for companies to address a wide array of issues, from climate to racial equity, and provided advice on how to do so. Sandra Peters, senior head…
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BeiGene appoints general counsel
Chan Lee most recently held a senior legal post at Sanofi Oncology biotechnology company BeiGene has appointed Chan Lee as general counsel. Lee most recently was North America general counsel and head of legal for the specialty care global business unit at Sanofi. In that role he was responsible for the legal oversight of Sanofi’s operations in the US and Canada and its specialty care business globally. Before his time at Sanofi, Lee held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, including chief counsel for the company’s innovative health global business. Earlier in his career, he was chief counsel for the…
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Bearish sentiment growing, investor and analyst survey finds
Most respondents expect a recession to be ‘short’ and ‘shallow’ More than half (55 percent) of investors and analysts say their view of the market is either ‘neutral to bearish’ or ‘bearish,’ a rise from 43 percent last quarter, according to the latest survey by Corbin Advisors. The research, which polled 80 institutional investors and sell-side analysts globally between June 2 and July 8, finds negativity has intensified amid persistent inflation, rising interest rates and slowing economic growth. Although 72 percent of respondents say they are ‘concerned’ or ‘significantly concerned’ about the prospect of a recession, the majority expect it…
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NRG Energy and JLL among winners of inaugural ESG Integration Awards
Awards celebrate ESG work by governance and investor relations teams – The Wall Street Journal reported that companies are asking the SEC to alter its proposed climate-disclosure requirements to give deal makers enough time to report information about acquired companies. Executives and lawyers said they worry the proposal, which would force public companies to disclose information about climate risks and emissions, could delay or even derail M&A deals. The SEC has proposed requiring companies to report their carbon emissions and, in certain cases, those of their suppliers and customers. Depending on what the final version says, climate-related disclosures could extend…
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The week in GRC: SEC proposes changes to shareholder proposal rule and more brands publicly support abortion rights
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web Corporate Secretary and sister publication IR Magazine have announced the winners of the inaugural ESG Integration Awards. The winners, selected by an independent panel of judges, were revealed yesterday following the ESG Integration Forum – Summer in New York. The award for Best board oversight of ESG went to NRG Energy. Amalgamated Financial Corp was celebrated in the Best climate action award category. Gilead Sciences received the Best diversity, equity & inclusion award, while the prize for Best ESG communications went to Energy Recovery. Starbucks Corporation was awarded the…
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SEC scraps rules giving companies more power in proxy process
US regulator also proposes to update rules around exclusion of shareholder proposals The SEC has voted to undo Trump-era rules that handed companies more involvement in the creation of proxy advice. Under the changes, proxy advisory firms will no longer need to make available to companies any research about them or share with investors any written responses by companies to voting advice. The rules had been adopted in 2020. The ruling, while expected, is a blow to corporate groups that have long campaigned for ways to address perceived issues with proxy voting advice, such as accuracy and conflicts of interest.…
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Buy side leads increase in non-domestic engagement, study finds
Two thirds of buy-side investors and analysts increased their non-domestic engagement The shift to virtual meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly increased the engagement of investors with companies outside of their region, according to the latest report on corporate access from Corporate Secretary sister publication IR Magazine. Research conducted in the fourth quarter of 2021 shows two thirds of buy-side investors and analysts increased their non-domestic engagement over the past year, with 42 percent identifying a large increase. This compares with a quarter of sell-siders seeing a large increase and 58 percent seeing an increase in general. More than…