Archive
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The week in GRC: Klobuchar seeks tougher antitrust enforcement and Biden team talks with car companies about emissions
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal reported that US lawmakers from both parties are pushing back against companies that have suspended campaign donations, arguing that the freeze unfairly punishes everyone and could undermine corporate interests. According to people familiar with the matter, Democrats friendly with business have complained to companies that they are being penalized for actions taken by Republicans challenging the results of the presidential election. Separately, Republicans who voted with Democrats to uphold President Joe Biden’s win have told companies that cutting off their funding may harm their…
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Tackling compliance risks in cross-border M&A
General counsel have key role in addressing deal-related compliance risks The second half of 2020 saw a 79 percent increase in cross-border M&A compared with the first half of the year – the biggest half-year jump on record – and we expect deal activity to continue apace. In that context, it is worth bearing in mind the potential legal and regulatory dangers that can arise when conducting such transactions, and how in-house teams can help address them. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and other global authorities have long emphasized that cross-border M&A presents compliance-related risks for acquirers. Anti-bribery and…
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Cummins general counsel promoted to CAO
Sharon Barner to succeed Marya Rose, who will retire after more than two decades with the tech company NYSE-listed Cummins’ vice president and general counsel Sharon Barner is to become the company’s chief administrative officer (CAO), effective April 2021. She will succeed Marya Rose, who will be retiring after more than two decades in leadership positions with the technology company. As CAO, Barner will head up global groups such as legal, compliance, communications, marketing, government relations, facilities, security and Cummins’ global shared services organization. She joined the company as general counsel in 2012 and has since built a team across…
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PepsiCo appoints next general counsel and corporate secretary
David Flavell succeeds Dave Yawman, who is leaving the company after more than 22 years PepsiCo has appointed David Flavell executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective March 1. Flavell is at present senior vice president, deputy general counsel and chief compliance and ethics officer with the company. He will succeed Dave Yawman, who is leaving PepsiCo after more than 22 years to pursue other interests. Yawman will stay on until Flavell takes up his new post to help with the transition. Flavell joined PepsiCo in 2011 and has filled senior legal roles such as general counsel for…
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Coca-Cola demands action on law firm diversity
Company ‘no longer interested in discussing motivations, programs or excuses for little to no progress,’ says Bradley Gayton The Coca-Cola Company is updating its outside counsel guidelines to require that the US law firms it uses take concrete steps toward promoting diversity within their ranks. In an open letter released last week, Coca-Cola senior vice president and global general counsel Bradley Gayton complains that decades of discussions in the legal profession about the importance of diversity have led to score cards, summits, committees and plans – but that these are not working. ‘The hard truth is that our profession is…
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Companies face proposals on employee representation
Starbucks and Disney among those that have received requests At least six US companies have received investor requests to put proposals to a vote at their AGMs on the topic of employee board representation. Starbucks’ 2021 proxy statement, for example, includes a proposal from James McRitchie – the investor behind the flurry of filings on the topic – that if passed would call on the coffee company’s board to adopt a policy of ‘promoting significant representation of employee perspectives among corporate decision-makers by requiring the initial list of candidates from which new director nominees are chosen by the nominations and…
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The week in GRC: TCI founder backs say-on-climate push and rule freeze affects AML proposals
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – According to Reuters, lobbyists and legal experts say that although progressives want to repeal the Trump administration’s Wall Street-friendly rules they may struggle to secure enough votes in a narrowly divided Congress and risk obstructing President Joe Biden’s agencies from writing stricter new rules. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is expected to chair the Senate Banking Committee, said this month he was drawing up a list of rules passed by Trump regulators that he hopes to kill using the Congressional Review Act. But he may find it difficult to…
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Companies sign up for new ESG stakeholder metrics
World Economic Forum releases information at Davos conference Dozens of business leaders this week committed their organizations to using a new set of ESG-related metrics and disclosures developed in collaboration with the Big Four accounting firms. The 61 signatories, revealed at the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference, will start using ‘stakeholder capitalism metrics’ as an initiative intended to speed up convergence among the main private ESG standard-setters and to bring greater comparability and consistency to ESG disclosures. The metrics are based on other voluntary standards and consist of a set of 21 core – and 34 expanded – disclosures focusing…
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Sinclair hires company’s first CCO
Jeffrey Lewis previously worked at Pinnacle Propane Nasdaq-listed Sinclair Broadcast Group has hired Jeffrey Lewis to fill the newly created position of chief compliance officer (CCO). Lewis will supervise corporate compliance functions such as regulatory, code of conduct, competition and privacy. He will also be responsible for providing strategic guidance on the implementation of compliance with regulatory agency requirements. He reports directly to Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley. Most recently, Lewis was general counsel and CCO with Pinnacle Propane. Before that he spent more than 15 years with AT&T, first as vice president for legal, general attorney and associate…
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Tenneco finds successor to general counsel
Thomas Sabatino will join the NYSE-listed company next month Thomas Sabatino will join Lake Forest, Illinois-based Tenneco as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective February 15. Sabatino is at present co-chair of the Humane Society of the United States’ board and chair of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. He also holds board positions with Teligent and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Sabatino’s appointment follows Brandon Smith’s appointment as executive vice president and general counsel at CHS, a Fortune 100 agribusiness co-operative. Smith will stay on with Tenneco into March to help with…