Corporate governance - Vigil

U.S. companies deemed to have superior environmental, social and governance practices will be eligible for improved terms on directors-and-officers liability insurance policies under an initiative by a leading broker.

Corporate Board Practices in the Russell 3000, S&P 500 and S&P MidCap 400: 2021 Edition documents corporate governance trends and developments at US publicly traded companies—including information on board composition and diversity, the profile and skill sets of directors, and policies on their election, removal, and retirement. The analysis is based on recently filed proxy statements and complemented by the review of organizational documents

Goldman Sachs has granted a bonus plan for its top two executives that could pay the pair tens of millions of dollars each if the Wall Street bank hits stock price goals over the next five years.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, Goldman said it had granted performance-based stock worth $30m to chief executive David Solomon and $20m in stock for group president John Waldron. The awards would be paid out in October 2026.

Brad Shaw, the chief executive of Shaw Communications Inc., says the company remains committed to its merger with Rogers Communications Inc., and that the boardroom rift at Rogers is a “family and board matter.”

The statement, provided to Tthe Globe and Mail, marks the first time that the Calgary-based telecom has spoken publicly about the power struggle at Rogers, which has struck a deal to acquire Shaw for $26-billion including the debt. The acquisition is still awaiting regulatory approval from three federal bodies.

The Daniel Kulle era at Forever 21 has come to an end.

Kulle spent 25 years with H&Mbefore being lured by the fast-fashion retailer’s new owners to become chief executive officer at Forever 21 in February 2020. But according to an e-mail he sent Tuesday night to his contacts, Kulle said he had resigned his post two weeks ago and will be “taking some time off to find out my next move.”

The planned departure of Intel Corp. Chief Financial Officer George Davis announced Thursday is the latest example of a CFO leaving after a company names a new chief executive.

Mr. Davis, who was poached from rival Qualcomm Inc. in 2019 after six years as its finance chief, plans to retire in May 2022, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel said. He will continue serving in his current role until then while the semiconductor giant searches for a successor.

You might remember that the first legal challenge to California’s board gender diversity statute, Crest v. Alex Padilla, was a complaint filed in 2019 in California state court by three California taxpayers seeking to prevent implementation and enforcement of the law. Framed as a “taxpayer suit,” the litigation sought to enjoin Alex Padilla, the then-California Secretary of State (now U.S. Senator), from expending taxpayer funds and taxpayer-financed resources to enforce or implement the law, SB 826, alleging that the law’s mandate is an unconstitutional gender-based quota and violates the California constitution. The court in that case has just denied each side’s motion for summary judgment after concluding that there were triable issues of material fact. The case will now be going to trial, which is currently set for October 25. Stay tuned.

Le principal régulateur des secteurs financier et boursier au Québec devrait être gouverné par un conseil d’administration en bonne et due forme, plutôt qu’un simple « conseil consultatif de régie administrative ».

So much is unfamiliar about the pandemic that it has never been easy to make sense of what is going on. Yet in recent days uncertainty has gone into overdrive. Stockmarkets are volatile; uncertainty about the path of inflation and labour markets is high. The fate of the economic recovery seems to hinge on the answers to a number of big questions. Will the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus derail the global recovery? Will underlying weaknesses be revealed as governments unwind stimulus? How enthusiastic are households and firms about spending? But the answers are unclear. And four gauges of the recovery—market prices, “high-frequency” activity indicators, hard data and economists’ forecasts—are all giving mixed signals.

Les PME québécoises sont en pleine contradiction face à leur responsabilité sociale et environnementale.

Un sondage mené auprès de dirigeants de PME québécoises démontre en effet que l’écrasante majorité d’entre elles (88%) sont «préoccupées par leur impact social et environnemental» et que 84% d’entre elles estiment «avoir un rôle à jouer, en tant qu’entreprise, dans la résolution de ces enjeux». Or, le sondage démontre également que les intérêts des actionnaires et la génération de profits demeurent la priorité des PME, par opposition aux intérêts des autres parties prenantes, au bien-être des gens et à la protection de l’environnement.

Fast-growing European start-up FlixMobility has acquired Greyhound, the operator of North American long-distance buses, from the UK’s FirstGroup as it attempts to become the leading coach operator in the US.

The eight-year-old platform, which started by offering cheaper alternatives to Deutsche Bahn trains after competition rules were relaxed, dominates Germany’s coach travel market and has expanded across most of Europe.

PayPal, the online payments company, is in talks to acquire social media group Pinterest for about $45bn, in what could result in one of the largest corporate takeover deals of the year, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Pinterest’s board received a mainly stock-based $70 a share offer from PayPal, which is seeking to capitalise on its relatively high share price as currency for a transaction. The timing of the approach remained uncertain.

Une transaction majeure secoue le milieu immobilier commercial. La société montréalaise Canderel et ses partenaires annoncent leur offre de racheter puis de privatiser le fonds de placement immobilier (FPI) Cominar, première foncière québécoise avec des immeubles d’une valeur totale de 5,7 milliards.

With ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) funds on a dramatic incline, an incline expected to continue going forward, it seems inevitable that regulatory reform is on the horizon. Europe has been leading the charge in the incorporation of ESG considerations into its regulatory framework. As we look to gauge what type of regulatory reform might be around the corner for us here in the U.S., specifically in the realm of fund finance, it is useful to look at the regulatory developments in the EU.

Moldova declared a state of emergency on Friday as the small former Soviet state seeks alternative gas sources after Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom slashed supplies amid a wider global energy crunch.

La Banque centrale américaine (Fed) a annoncé jeudi de nouvelles règles, restreignant fortement les investissements sur les marchés autorisés à ses responsables après des divulgations sur des transactions effectuées par certains membres, ayant conduit à la démission de deux d’entre eux.

Climate change is an “emerging threat” to the stability of the U.S. financial system, top federal regulators warned in a report on Thursday, setting the stage for the Biden administration to take more aggressive regulatory action to prevent climate change from upending global markets and the economy.

The report, produced by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, is the clearest expression of alarm to date about the risks that rising temperatures and seas pose to the economy and could herald sweeping changes to the kinds of investments made by banks and other financial institutions.

Retail shareholders can get organised and can push for change if they band together

South Africa has the highest wage inequality in the world, and there is growing interest in remuneration governance and director pay.

Western Digital Corp.’s talks to merge with Japanese chip maker Kioxia Holdings Corp. in a $20 billion-plus deal have stalled, according to people familiar with the matter.

Efforts by CFOs to build sustainable businesses are, in one respect, unsustainable.

CFOs for months have faced rising pressure from shareholders, regulators and lawmakers to align their companies with environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practices.

When crafting a response, CFOs must first choose from a jumble of inconsistent performance measures. They confront different approaches to gauging many facets of sustainability — including carbon emissions — and must pick from a muddle of more than 15 ESG reporting frameworks that vary in detail and scope

When The Economist introduced its Big Mac index 35 years ago, the ubiquitous McDonald’s hamburger cost just $1.60 in America. Now it costs $5.65, according to an average of prices in four big cities. The increase comfortably outstrips inflation over the same period.

Burberry Group Plc named Jonathan Akeroyd as its new chief executive officer to replace Marco Gobbetti, who decided to take the helm at Salvatore Ferragamo.

Akeroyd comes from the Italian fashion house Gianni Versace SpA, where as CEO he reorganized and accelerated growth, Burberry said in a statement Wednesday. The 54-year-old Brit, who also led a turnaround at Alexander McQueen, will start April 1. 

The European Central Bank is pushing banks to add hundreds of extra staff and billions of extra capital to their post-Brexit operations in continental Europe.

One of the big surprises of the UK leaving the EU was how few jobs moved from the City to the European mainland, with Financial Times research showing only a minimal reduction of London bank jobs in recent years against predictions that tens of thousands of jobs would have to relocate.