Archive
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Sixty-eight of 77 industries significantly affected by climate risk, SASB says
Updated SASB bulletin outlines climate risk reporting specifics by industry Luminar Technologies has announced the appointment of Alan Prescott as chief legal officer and Trey Campbell as vice president of investor relations. The company listed on Nasdaq in December 2020, following a merger with special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos. Prescott joins Luminar from Tesla, where he spent four years, including a recent stint as its general counsel. Before working at Tesla, he served as senior counsel for Uber’s Advanced Technology Group. He started his career at Ford Motor Company, ultimately acting as the special counsel to the general counsel.…
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Luminar Technologies appoints heads of legal and IR
Company listed on Nasdaq in December 2020, following merger with Gores Metropoulos SASB released an updated Climate Risk Technical Bulletin last week to help companies better understand how they can disclose climate risk in a manner that provides investors with helpful information. SASB’s standards divide companies into 77 industries and provide industry-specific ESG reporting suggestions, based on financial materiality. As part of this latest review, SASB finds that 68 of the 77 industries are significantly affected in some way by climate risk, totaling 89 percent of the market capitalization of the S&P Global 1200. ‘Climate change is ubiquitous,’ says David…
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SEC says SeaWorld can exclude shareholder proposal for ‘micromanagement’
Peta proposal sought to determine how company can ‘feasibly eliminate animal-based programs’ The SEC has said SeaWorld Entertainment may exclude an animal rights group-backed proposal seeking a report on moving its business away from using animals on the grounds that it constitutes micromanagement. The proposal from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) states: ‘In order to address the most pressing issues SeaWorld faces today – specifically, the public’s continued opposition to captive-animal displays and the consequential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – the shareholders urge the board to conduct a study to determine how soon SeaWorld could…
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The week in GRC: SEC appoints chief enforcer and House committee passes diversity legislation
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal reported that the UK government said it would probe Nvidia’s $40 bn deal to buy UK chip designer Arm from SoftBank Group over possible national security issues. UK digital secretary Oliver Dowden asked the country’s antitrust agency to investigate the merger’s national-security implications and deliver a report by July 30, adding to previously announced plans to probe the deal on antitrust grounds. Arm has long based its business model on partnering with as many companies as possible in providing its chip designs. Nvidia CEO…
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CommScope veteran CLO to retire
Burk Wyatt has been with the company for more than 25 years Burk Wyatt, chief legal officer (CLO) and secretary with CommScope Holding Company, will retire on June 1 after a career of more than 25 years with the Hickory, North Carolina-based company. Wyatt joined CommScope in 1996 as its first general counsel. His work has most recently involved leading the company’s legal efforts around the planned spin-off of its Home Networks business. Wyatt advised on CommScope’s 2011 acquisition by funds affiliated with The Carlyle Group to become a private company. He then guided the company through its IPO in…
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Alphabet faces vote on ‘anticompetitive practices’ oversight report
Google parent unsuccessfully sought no-action relief to exclude proposal Companies are increasingly taking into account the cost of carbon in their business plans, according to new research. CDP says that in just five years there has been an 80 percent increase in the number of companies using – or planning to use – an internal carbon price. Of the nearly 6,000 companies surveyed on carbon pricing in 2020, more than 2,000 – representing more than $27 tn in market capitalization – disclose that they use an internal carbon price or plan to implement one within the next two years, says…
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More companies factoring carbon price into business risk
But many firms need to increase the carbon prices they account for internally, CDP says Shareholders in Google parent company Alphabet are set to vote on a proposal regarding board oversight of ‘anticompetitive practices.’ Specifically, the measure filed by CtW Investment Group requests that Alphabet’s board ‘report to shareholders on how it oversees risks related to anticompetitive practices, including whether the full board or board committee has oversight responsibility, whether and how consideration of such risks is incorporated into board deliberations regarding strategy and the board’s role in Alphabet’s public policy activities related to such risks.’ In its supporting statement,…
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Mastercard promotes general counsel to chief administrative officer
Richard Verma succeeds Tim Murphy as general counsel Mastercard has appointed its general counsel Tim Murphy to the newly created position of chief administrative officer. In this role, he oversees the company’s law, franchise and integrity activities, as well as the added management of its people and capabilities function. Richard Verma, executive vice president for global public policy and regulatory affairs at the company, has been promoted to general counsel and head of global public policy. He now heads up Mastercard’s core legal and regulatory functions, as well as its global and regional public policy teams, and joins the company’s…
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Shareholder activism continues resurgence, with US leading the way
The US market saw 37 new campaigns in Q1 2021 Shareholder activism continued its resurgence in the first three months of 2021 with a second consecutive quarter of heightened activity, according to a new report from investment bank Lazard. Activists initiated 53 new campaigns globally in Q1 2021, building on the 59 conducted in the previous quarter, reveals the research. That follows a mid-2020 slump in activity, with 41 campaigns in Q2 and just 25 in Q3. The report includes activist campaigns at companies with a market capitalization of more than $500 mn. The US market led the way with…
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SEC says Rooney Rule proposals are micromanagement
AFL-CIO asks several companies to implement ‘diverse candidate search policy’ – The Wall Street Journal reported that Jack Ma’s Ant Group will apply to become a financial holding company overseen by China’s central bank, revamping its business to adapt to a new era of tighter regulation for internet companies. In a statement, the People’s Bank of China said Ant representatives were summoned to a meeting with four regulatory agencies that also included the country’s banking, securities and foreign-exchange overseers. It said a ‘comprehensive, viable rectification plan’ for Ant has been developed under the regulators’ supervision over the past few months.…