Archive
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Interview with Nasdaq’s Joan Conley: Lifetime achievement award winner
Joan Conley, senior vice president and corporate secretary with Nasdaq, is the recipient this year of Corporate Secretary’s lifetime achievement award. She talks to Ben Maiden about how governance professionals have adapted to the pandemic and how the role of the corporate secretary has changed, and offers highlights from her many years at Nasdaq The week in GRC is taking a break for the holidays and will be back in January. Happy Holidays! – Reuters reported that ExxonMobil said it plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the next five years to support the goals of the Paris…
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Starting a new governance journey at Nuance
How Nuance Communications was named Governance team of the year (small to mid-cap) and the company’s Wendy Cassity was named Governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap) ‘Leadership across the board’ is how one of the Corporate Secretary judges describes PepsiCo’s governance team, which has looked to move the ball forward in a variety of areas over the past year or so. One of those areas is improving the proxy statement. When putting together the 2020 version, the governance team drew on investor feedback to focus on six areas: (1) board composition, diversity and refreshment, and leadership structure; (2)…
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The week in GRC: BlackRock targets climate and diversity, and SEC approves natural-resources disclosure rule
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web Wendy Cassity, executive vice president and chief legal officer at Nuance Communications, joined the company in late 2018 with a mandate to bring about a major overhaul of the company’s governance. And Cassity and her new, hand-picked team have delivered just that. As the company says in its submission: ‘Nuance was ready for change. After years of stagnant growth and unresponsive management, there was nowhere to go but up.’ Just 8 percent of votes cast were in favor of executives’ compensation at Nuance’s 2018 AGM. Within months of the…
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How AIG’s Glazer builds good governance on good relations
Why Rose Marie Glazer of American International Group was named governance professional of the year (large cap) at the recent Corporate Governance Awards As off-season shareholder engagement continues to rise, buy-side corporate access teams are stepping in to assist with the meetings – either formally or informally. For most issuers, there has been a sharp increase in investor meetings this year as the ease of virtual conferencing has played a part. This engagement has carried through to the off-season, when governance professionals and board directors tend to meet with the stewardship and responsible investment teams at asset managers. According to…
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Driving change – Diversity and the general counsel
Pressure from investors and other stakeholders is putting a new focus on diversity at board and employee level. Governance leaders can do a lot to help improve representation and how their firm communicates around that work Rose Marie Glazer, senior vice president, corporate secretary and deputy general counsel of American International Group (AIG), joined the company in 2017 and has been a leader in supporting and enhancing its governance ever since. Glazer’s ability to work successfully with the board, people at AIG and outside stakeholders has been a hallmark of her tenure, and one of the reasons for her many…
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Corporate access teams playing role in off-season engagement
Off-season engagement increased again this year, notes survey of attendees at the ESG Integration Forum – US Diversity and inclusion will feature prominently in the thinking of many corporate leaders and investors in 2021. That means corporate secretaries and general counsel will have an important role to play in advising boards, finding candidates and devising disclosures that will help shape narratives on a key set of issues. The protest movement sparked by the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people of color and the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police officers has shone a renewed spotlight…
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RenaissanceRe names next general counsel
Shannon Lowry Bender to join company in the New Year As investor demand for ESG information continues to increase, a group of ESG experts believe pressure will build on issuers to seek third-party assurance for ESG disclosures in the near future. Third-party assurance has been a talking point for the last two years at the ESG Integration Forum – US, hosted by IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary. At both forums, audience members have expressed trepidation about seeking third-party assurance, with common concerns including the time it takes to seek assurance and the impression that seeking assurance may lead to less…
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Expect move toward assurance of ESG disclosures, experts say
Third-party assurance a talking point at ESG Integration Forum – US NYSE-listed RenaissanceRe Holdings has recruited Shannon Lowry Bender as senior vice president, group general counsel and corporate secretary, effective January 1, 2021. Bender succeeds Stephen Weinstein, executive vice president, group general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer (CCO), who will leave RenaissanceRe at the end of 2020 but will be an adviser to the company for 12 months. Bender is joining RenaissanceRe from CIT, where she has been senior vice president and chief corporate counsel. Before working at CIT, she was a partner at law firm Fried Frank…
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Tractor Supply finds new general counsel and secretary
Noni Ellison succeeds Ben Parrish, who is retiring from the company Nasdaq-listed Tractor Supply Company has hired Noni Ellison as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary and member of the company’s executive committee, effective January 11, 2021. She succeeds Ben Parrish, who had announced his plans to retire from Tractor Supply following the appointment of a successor and a transition period. Ellison will report directly to Tractor Supply president and CEO Hal Lawton. In addition to managing the company’s legal department, she will lead its risk management, government relations, licensing and quality assurance/customs compliance teams, as well as…
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The week in GRC: Vatican launches ‘inclusive capitalism’ initiative and Tesla publishes its first diversity report
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – The Wall Street Journal reported that ExxonMobil faces the threat of a proxy fight from a new activist investor with a sustainability focus. Engine No 1 was preparing to send a letter to Exxon’s board urging the company to focus more on investments in clean energy while cutting costs elsewhere to preserve its dividend. The letter identifies four people the firm plans to nominate to Exxon’s 10-person board. Engine No 1 calls for Exxon to make four primary changes: add independent directors with diversified energy-industry experience; reduce capital…