Archive
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ESG scores must consider more than risk, S&P Global CEO says
Doug Peterson, president and CEO of S&P Global, publishes open letter on need for transparency in ESG ratings market ‘An ESG score does not support the basic principles of ESG investing if it considers risk alone,’ says Doug Peterson, president and CEO of S&P Global, a leading provider of ESG company ratings. In an open letter, he argues that instead of simply looking at risk, ratings must take a more holistic approach – measuring the positives that companies deliver as well as the risks posed by ESG issues. ESG scores must be about impact, he says. ‘It will be impossible…
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Surface Oncology hires general counsel
Theresa Boni was previously vice president and assistant general counsel at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Surface Oncology has appointed Theresa Boni as general counsel and senior vice president for legal. Boni was previously vice president and assistant general counsel at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, vice president and associate general counsel at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and before that held senior legal positions with Boston Scientific and Thermo Electron (now Thermo Fisher Scientific). Theresa Boni Outside of the life sciences company field, Boni has held senior legal positions with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and investment firm Patriarch Partners. Earlier in her legal career, she was an attorney with…
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A leader in thought and action: Holly Gregory’s lifetime achievement award
Holly Gregory is the 2021 winner of Corporate Secretary’s lifetime achievement award A divided SEC on Monday voted to propose highly anticipated rule changes that, if approved, will require companies to make climate-related disclosures including on climate-related risks that are expected to have a significant impact on them. The more than 500-page-long proposal covers disclosures in companies’ registration statements and periodic reports, and would include disclosure of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a metric to assess their exposure to climate risks. Specifically, the proposed rule changes would require a company to report on: Its governance of climate-related risks and…
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Veritiv Corporation appoints new general counsel from in-house
Susan Salyer currently senior vice president and chief compliance and sustainability officer Holly Gregory has been an integral and influential part of the corporate governance world for decades, in terms of both thinking about its principles and in putting those into practice. US companies are grateful for her work as a trusted adviser and fellow governance professionals are indebted to her as someone who has helped create a roadmap for others to follow. Holly Gregory Gregory is co-chair of Sidley Austin’s global corporate governance and executive compensation practice, having started working in corporate governance in the late 1980s at a…
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SEC proposes climate disclosure requirements
Measures include reporting around Scope 3 emissions NYSE-listed Veritiv Corporation is promoting Susan Salyer, the company’s senior vice president and chief compliance and sustainability officer, to become general counsel and corporate secretary, effective June 1. In her new role, Salyer will continue to have compliance and sustainability oversight and will also be responsible for Veritiv’s legal and corporate security teams. She will succeed Mark Hianik who has announced plans to retire from the company. Salyer joined Atlanta-based Veritiv in 2012 and has held a variety of legal and compliance positions including assistant general counsel and chief compliance officer. According to…
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CII updates policies on AGMs and poison pills
BlackRock investment stewardship head also discusses ‘pass-through’ voting at CII event The Council of Institutional Investors’ (CII) members approved revisions to the group’s corporate governance policies on shareowner meetings and poison pills during CII’s spring conference last week. The updated CII policy states: ‘Companies should consider that many investors have a preference for in-person meetings, but companies should also be afforded the flexibility to choose an in-person, hybrid or virtual-only format depending on their shareowner base and current circumstances. ‘Companies incorporating virtual technology into their shareowner meeting should use it as a tool for broadening, not limiting, shareowner meeting participation.…
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The week in GRC: SEC member Lee to step down after term ends and new law will require companies to report cyber-attacks
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters reported that Democratic SEC member Allison Herren Lee plans to leave the agency after her term ends in June, but will remain in office until a successor is named. ‘My term as commissioner expires in June of this year, and I have notified President Joe Biden that I intend to step down from the commission once my successor has been confirmed,’ Lee said. Her departure will come as the agency tackles an agenda of rule changes that would affect public companies, brokers, Wall Street banks and investment…
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Record-breaking proxy season for ESG proposals, report says
More than 500 ESG proposals filed in 2022 season, up 20 percent on previous year The 2022 proxy season is a record breaker for ESG proposals, with Michael Passoff, CEO of Proxy Impact and co-author of a new report, saying ‘you can feel the momentum building for real corporate change.’ Commenting on the 529 ESG proposals that have been filed this year, Passoff says there is ‘unprecedented support for environmental and social shareholder proposals.’ The Proxy Preview 2022 report, a comprehensive look at the season from As You Sow and Proxy Impact, predicts that around 300 proposals could be up…
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Financial firms urge companies to report environmental data via CDP
Financial institutions with $130 tn in assets writing to more than 10,000 companies demanding more environmental data Financial institutions including Allianz, Amundi, AXA, BNP Paribas, CalPERS, Capital Group, State Street and Vanguard have begun a letter-writing campaign calling on companies around the world to report more environmental data through CDP. The more than 680 firms with $130 tn in assets are writing to around 10,400 company boards around the world requesting that they disclose their data on climate change, deforestation and water security. Companies are being asked to disclose this information through non-profit CDP. ‘Investors have an important role to…
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ESG investing resilient against geopolitical turmoil, say polls
Attendees at Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine Forum expect more ESG proposals this proxy season Delegates at the Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine ESG Integration Forum – Europe insist ESG is here to stay and anticipate even more ESG proposals emerging at the 2022 AGM season. Attendees at the hybrid in-person and virtual forum in London earlier this month were polled for their views on the increasingly integral investing approach taken by global companies. Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine asked whether increasing pressures on bottom lines from inflation, the cost of living and geopolitical disruption in a post-pandemic recovering world…