Archive
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Intrepid Potash looks in-house for next general counsel
Christina Sheehan joined company in December 2021 as deputy general counsel One of the key questions companies ponder as they consider ESG issues is who should be in charge. Risk oversight is of course a core responsibility for boards and, as such, addressing sustainability and other ESG-related matters is rapidly becoming a core part of their risk oversight. That raises follow-up questions about how boards should be structured to address ESG issues: should they have a single ESG committee or tackle different issues on different committees, for example? And the responsibilities don’t stop there. ‘This is not one person’s job.…
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Aspen Aerogels hires legal chief
Virginia Johnson was previously general counsel at Schneider Electric North America Chubb shareholders have voted in favor of a proposal seeking disclosure about the insurer’s plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in relation to its underwriting and other financial activities. According to a regulatory filing, 72.2 percent of votes cast at the company’s May 19 AGM were in support of the proposal, which requests that Chubb release a report ‘addressing whether and how it intends to measure, disclose and reduce the GHG emissions associated with its underwriting, insuring and investment activities in alignment with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C…
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Chubb shareholders vote for GHG report
Investor proposal targets insurer’s financial activities NYSE-listed Aspen Aerogels has hired Virginia Johnson as chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary. She reports to Don Young, Aspen’s president and CEO. Johnson was previously general counsel at Schneider Electric North America. Before that she spent around eight years with Global Atlantic Financial Group, formerly known as Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group, in a number of roles, most recently as senior vice president, head of corporate legal, associate general counsel and corporate secretary. In that position she was responsible for corporate governance and regulatory compliance; enterprise-wide commercial contracting and licensing; M&A, transactional…
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Governance Matters podcast: Taking a structural approach to sustainability
The latest episode of the Governance Matters podcast looks at how companies can start tackling the challenges of sustainability by looking at how they are handled at an organizational level – including boards Denver, Colorado-based Intrepid Potash has promoted Christina Sheehan to become general counsel and corporate secretary. Sheehan joined Intrepid in December 2021 as deputy general counsel. According to an SEC filing, Kyle Smith, vice president, general counsel and secretary of Intrepid submitted his resignation from the company, effective May 12, with Sheehan becoming interim general counsel. Smith’s LinkedIn profile states that he is now general counsel with United…
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Investors expect senior management pay to be linked to ESG, research finds
But only a minority of companies are doing so Three in four investors expect senior management pay to be linked to ESG, according to the latest report on executive compensation by Corporate Secretary sister publication IR Magazine. But it is a practice that only a minority of companies undertake, with just 46 percent of boards linking executive pay to ESG metrics. Linking pay to ESG is least common in North America, where just over a quarter of companies do so, according to the research. And although comparatively fewer investors in North America expect this link, it is still the expectation…
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The week in GRC: California judge strikes down board diversity law and SEC enforcer complains of defense delaying tactics
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web The IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) says it will pay ‘special attention’ to small and mid-cap companies when developing its global baseline of standards for sustainability disclosures. The ISSB says it recognizes the ‘additional challenges’ faced by such companies and others in global supply chains in applying sustainability disclosure requirements. Its working group is about to begin consultations with jurisdictions on their capital market requirements for sustainability disclosures. The board aims to apply feedback and settle the institutional and technical standards of the baseline by the end…
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ISSB recognizes ‘challenges’ for small and mid-cap sustainability disclosure
Consultation poised to begin on developing new global reporting standard – The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that McDonald’s Corporation said it would leave Russia and sell its business there over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The fast-food company joins a large number of western companies in exiting Russia – after, in some cases, having initially paused operations – as the war in Ukraine continues. McDonald’s said in March that it was temporarily closing its 847 restaurants in Russia, while continuing to pay the 62,000 people it employs there. On Monday, it said continued ownership of its business in Russia…
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REI picks next general counsel
Minnie Alexander to join from The Walt Disney Company REI Co-op has hired Minnie Alexander as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective May 31. Alexander is joining REI from The Walt Disney Company, where she has been assistant general counsel. Her previous work includes being in-house counsel at Campbell Soup Company and an attorney with law firm Dorsey & Whitney. She succeeds Wilma Wallace, who was promoted to senior vice president, chief diversity & social impact officer and chief legal officer in the fall of 2021. Alexander’s role will entail leading and helping to implement the specialty outdoor…
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Nominations open for Corporate Governance Awards 2022
Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 22 Corporate Secretary has opened the submissions process for the 15th Corporate Governance Awards ahead of an in-person gala ceremony this fall. The awards recognize companies’ and individuals’ outstanding achievements in governance, risk and compliance (GRC). Entries can be submitted – free of charge – by corporate secretaries, general counsel, compliance officers and other governance officials at companies listed/domiciled in the US, or by vendors or service providers on behalf of their clients. The winners of this year’s Corporate Governance Awards will be announced at an in-person ceremony in New York on November 9.…
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Cannabis company TerrAscend recruits legal chief
Lynn Gefen is joining from home repair company HomeServe North American cannabis company TerrAscend Corp, which is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, has appointed Lynn Gefen as chief legal officer and corporate secretary, effective May 23. Gefen is joining TerrAscend from home repair company HomeServe, where she has been deputy general counsel, chief risk and compliance officer and assistant secretary for the past eight years, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before joining HomeServe, she worked at alcoholic beverage company Diageo North America on regulatory, privacy and compliance matters. Previously, she was associate general counsel, chief compliance officer and assistant…
