Archive
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The week in GRC: BlackRock’s support for directors decreases due to climate concerns and changes on AMC Entertainment’s board
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal reported that Robert Zink, the former prosecutor who conceived and oversaw the US Department of Justice’s effort to clamp down on market manipulation in commodities and derivatives, has joined the litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Zink will now represent companies and individuals facing government investigations. He joined the Justice Department in 2010 as a trial attorney. After serving as fraud-section chief, he became the criminal division’s acting deputy assistant attorney general, a role he held until early July. – According to CNBC,…
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Corporate Governance Awards nominations deadline extended
Entries can be submitted up to July 30 Corporate Secretary is extending the deadline for nominations for this year’s Corporate Governance Awards until Friday, July 30. 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 the 14th annual Corporate Governance Awards will be announced at a special virtual ceremony on November 11. The categories open for nomination this year are: Best AGM Best compliance and ethics program Best ESG…
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ESG a priority for asset managers amid hurdles, report says
Respondents say the major challenge they face is a lack of transparency Asset managers’ primary motivation for ESG integration is client demand, but the quality of public data poses challenges, according to an Index Industry Association (IIA) report. The report showcases that 85 percent of respondents say ESG plays a vital role in their firm’s overall investment offering/strategy. The report is based a survey of 300 respondents at asset management firms in the US, the UK, France and Germany. It finds that around 50 percent of respondents in the US and Germany consider ESG a very high priority. Respondents cite…
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Sustainable investments hit 35.9 percent of all assets, study finds
Global Sustainable Investment Alliance releases annual report Sustainable investments have grown to represent more than a third of all assets globally, according to research from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA). Drawing on data from the US, Canada, Japan, Australasia and Europe, the GSIA says sustainable investments accounted for 35.9 percent of total assets under management at the start of 2020, compared with 33.4 percent in 2018. In terms of value, sustainable investments at the beginning of 2020 stood at $35.3 tn, a rise of 15 percent over the previous two years, the organization says. ‘The report again demonstrates that…
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Signify Health appoints compliance chief
Erin Kelly was previously senior legal counsel at CVS Health/Aetna Signify Health has appointed Erin Kelly as chief compliance officer (CCO). The company, which describes Kelly as ‘an advocate of organizational ethics’, says that in her new role she heads up the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with regulations, policies and legal requirements. As CCO, Kelly also leads the company’s compliance risk management function, including technology initiatives and overseeing internal controls and training. Kelly was most recently senior legal counsel at CVS Health/Aetna. Before that, she provided legal and regulatory guidance for Aetna and Coventry…
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Customers Bancorp hires new general counsel
Andrew Sachs was previously partner with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton NYSE-listed Customers Bancorp has hired Andrew Sachs as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Sachs succeeds Michael DeTommaso, who is retiring from those positions. DeTommaso will remain with the bank as a senior legal adviser until the end of the year to help with the transition. Sachs was previously a partner with law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, where his practice focused on ETFs, mutual funds, investment advisers, M&A and securities. Before his legal career, he worked in the information technology industry. According to the company, Sachs and…
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The week in GRC: SEC exam chief to step down and Ford adopts gender-neutral titles
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that the chief compliance officer at Credit Suisse’s domestic unit was stepping down. Floriana Scarlato, who took the compliance job at Swiss Universal Bank on March 1, is leaving to pursue opportunities elsewhere, the bank said. Scarlato joined Credit Suisse in 2005. ‘Floriana Scarlato’s successor will be announced in due course,’ Credit Suisse said in a statement. – According to CNN, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it was dropping plans to buy a big natural gas pipeline for more than $1.7 bn because of antitrust concerns.…
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Say-on-climate proposals used by some to simply appear progressive, SquareWell warns
Say-on-climate issue now ‘one of the most contentious topics’ in 2021 AGM season Investors continue to feel enthusiastic about the IPO and special purpose acquisition company (Spac) markets, though many expect the number of new entrants to the public markets to tail off by the end of the year, according to a new survey from Edelman. During 2020, despite the volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the global IPO market and Spac IPOs both hit historic highs. Almost nine in 10 investors surveyed by Edelman expect to invest in at least one IPO and Spac listing this year. But the…
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IPO and Spac surge expected to slow, study says
Investor appetite grows for financial and technology sectors A growing number of companies are proactively adopting say-on-climate (SoC) votes, but shareholder advisory firm SquareWell Partners warns that some – particularly in carbon-intensive industries – are doing so in a bid to appear more progressive than their peers. The idea of an SoC vote was started as a campaign by the Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) in 2019 and has since spread globally. As of June 2021, SquareWell is aware of 32 companies that have submitted (or will submit) an SoC proposal, either management- or shareholder-sponsored, thefirm notes. Additionally, 23 companies have…
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Ford hires general counsel and policy chief
Steven Croley is a former federal attorney Corporate Secretary has announced the panel of judges who will be deciding the winners of this year’s Corporate Governance Awards, for which submissions are due by July 23. Anna Catalano joins the panel this year. She serves as an independent director for public and private corporations and not-for-profit organizations and is currently a member of the boards of Willis Towers Watson, Kraton Corporation, HollyFrontier Corporation, Frontdoor and Appvion. She is a director of the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Corporate Directors Institute. Joan Conley also joins the panel for this year’s awards. She…