Corporate governance - Vigil

Le département américain du Commerce a annoncé lundi avoir lancé des procédures qui pourraient conduire dans quelques mois à la mise en place de droits de douane sectoriels sur les drones et des éléments nécessaires à la fabrication de panneaux solaires. Dans les deux cas, le ministère a ouvert le 1er juillet une enquête publique, première étape nécessaire avant de décider si ces produits doivent faire l’objet d’une taxe douanière particulière ou non. Elles concernent les appareils aériens pilotés à distance (ou drones) ainsi que le silicium polycristallin et ses dérivés, qui sont utilisés pour la fabrication des panneaux solaires et des semiconducteurs.

Investment bank Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. hired veteran mining banker Kevin Carter from rival Cormark Securities Inc., which is negotiating a potential sale to Alberta government-owned ATB Financial. Early Monday, Toronto-based Canaccord announced Mr. Carter is joining the country’s largest independent dealer as a managing director, after spending the past five years at Cormark and a decade at another independent investment bank. “Kevin’s appointment reinforces our position as a global leader in metals and mining finance,” said Jason Melbourne, the head of Canadian investment banking at Canaccord in an e-mail to employees. “He brings a tremendous track record of success and deep sector expertise that will further strengthen our global mining franchise.”

Mark Zuckerberg is expected to appear as a star witness in an unusual $8 billion trial that kicks off this week at which the Meta CEO is accused of operating Facebook as an illegal enterprise that allowed users’ data to be harvested without their consent. Shareholders of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, sued Zuckerberg and other current and former company leaders, saying they continually violated a 2012 agreement between Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission to protect users’ data. The case dates back to 2018, after it emerged that data from millions of Facebook users was accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consulting firm that worked for U.S. President Donald Trump‘s successful campaign for U.S. president in 2016.

Private-equity firms Bain Capital and Kohlberg are leading a new multibillion-dollar investment in PCI Pharma Services, a company that specializes in helping biopharma companies bring new drugs to market, executives at the firms said. The deal values PCI at $10 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. This will be Bain’s first investment in PCI, which has been in private-equity hands for more than a decade. Kohlberg in 2020 teamed up with Abu Dhabi state-owned investment fund Mubadala to take a majority stake in the company. As part of the new deal, the executives say the two will reinvest in PCI, as will Partners Group PGHN 0.33%increase; green up pointing triangle, which first took a stake in the business in 2016.

Kenvue’s CEO and board member Thibaut Mongon has stepped down, it said on Monday, in the second big executive change at the consumer health company amid push by activist investors to boost performance. Shares of the Tylenol maker rose 3.3 per cent in premarket trading as it named company director Kirk Perry as interim CEO. The company had in May replaced finance chief Paul Ruh with Kellanova’s Amit Banati. Perry has previously spent 23 years with Procter & Gamble. He most recently served as president and CEO of Circana, a global provider of technology, data and predictive analytics for the consumer, retail and media sectors. Kenvue, which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, has been looking to improve profitability, particularly in its skin-health and beauty unit, which includes brands such as Neutrogena and Aveeno.

Donald Trump a annoncé samedi l’imposition de droits de douane de 30 % pour les produits de l’Union européenne et du Mexique importés aux États-Unis, une nouvelle surenchère sur fond de négociations avant l’échéance du 1er août qui sème l’inquiétude en Europe. Le président américain a justifié, dans une nouvelle lettre publiée sur sa plateforme Truth Social, cette décision en se plaignant du déficit commercial américain avec les 27 pays de l’UE. Cette charge a aussitôt suscité de vives réactions en Europe, où, des voitures aux médicaments, des avions aux vins, des secteurs essentiels de l’économie du continent pourraient être frappés.

L’économie redevient l’élément le plus important des relations du Canada avec les pays de la région indo-pacifique, a indiqué la ministre des Affaires étrangères, Anita Anand. Mme Anand a souligné ce changement dans la stratégie canadienne lors d’une récente visite au Japon et en Malaisie, son premier voyage officiel dans la région depuis qu’elle est devenue ministre des Affaires étrangères en mai. Elle affirme qu’il était important d’apporter des modifications à la stratégie en raison des incertitudes économiques actuelles. Elle ajoute toutefois que le Canada continuera de promouvoir le multilatéralisme et la protection des civils.

Meta luminaries will publicly testify in a Delaware corporate law court this week over shareholder allegations that board mismanagement was directly responsible for billions in sanctions that the social media group paid over data breaches.  Two of Facebook parent company’s best known executives, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, are listed as witnesses in the eight-day trial, which starts on Wednesday. Longtime director and investor Marc Andreessen, as well as former board members Jeff Zients, a former top adviser to former US president Joe Biden, are also set to appear. Other director defendants include the investor Peter Thiel, Kenneth Chenault, the former American Express chief executive and Reed Hastings, the Netflix co-founder.

A lot has happened at Unilever since Nelson Peltz’s activist hedge fund, Trian Partners, started building a stake in the company three years ago. The consumer staples giant has since been through two chief executives, sold a bunch of non-core brands and is in the midst of spinning out its ice cream business via an Amsterdam stock market listing later this year. If one were to look at the bare figures, this activity has yet to feed through into earnings — though this may change when Unilever publishes half-year figures this month. Pre-tax profit stood at €8.6bn (£7.4bn) in December 2021 (the month before Trian’s investment was first revealed by the Financial Times) and three years later it had edged up to €8.9bn. Earnings per share have marginally declined from €2.33 to €2.30 over the same period.

Given the ongoing pace of change, boards must view geopolitical shifts through a strategic assessment lens, treating them as more than just a backdrop to business operations. According to a recent report from FTI Consulting, Corporate Board Member and Diligent Institute, 76 percent of surveyed board members said the “continuation, resurgence or emergence of a geopolitical event in a region of operation” would have “some impact” or a “significant impact” on strategy. Here are four expert recommendations for how companies and their boards can approach the current political and economic landscape.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly integrating into the operational backbone of small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Marketing automation, financial modeling, vendor screening and HR analytics are just a few areas where AI-enabled tools are now standard. For many companies, these systems are embedded in widely adopted platforms or SaaS solutions, making AI a silent but influential presence in daily decision-making. Yet, amid the enthusiasm and perceived efficiency gains, a critical risk is being overlooked by many private company boards: AI degradation driven by its own training data. Most directors are not yet attuned to the fact that the very systems companies rely on to enhance performance may be quietly eroding in quality over time.

Portugal has relaunched the privatisation of its flagship airline TAP, saying it wants to sell 49.9 per cent of the business in a move that opens the way for a potential bidding war. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s announcement on Thursday restarts a long-delayed process that had previously attracted interest from Europe’s three big airline groups: International Airlines Group, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa. Montenegro, a centre-right leader who began a new term in June, said he was “convinced that there will be many interested parties” drawn to the airline, which serves 86 destinations in 31 countries.

U.S. antitrust enforcers greenlit T-Mobile's  $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular on Thursday, the latest deal blessed by the Trump administration as it takes a softer approach to corporate consolidation than its predecessor. The U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division said it was closing its investigation without seeking to block the deal announced in May 2024 for T-Mobile to take over UScellular's wireless operations including customers, stores and 30% of its spectrum assets. The announcement came a day after T-Mobile US said it was ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, under pressure from the Trump administration as it sought regulatory clearance for this deal and Federal Communications Commission approval to establish a joint venture with KKR to acquire internet service provider Metronet.

L’inflation a poursuivi sa remontée au mois de juin aux États-Unis pour s’établir à 2,7 % sur un an, après une première hausse un mois plus tôt, alors que les experts anticipaient un impact des droits de douane imposés par Donald Trump sur les prix à la consommation. En juin, l’indice CPI a progressé de 2,7 % en rythme annuel, contre 2,4 % en mai, en ligne avec les attentes des analystes, selon le consensus publié par MarketWatch. L’accélération est également marquée sur un mois, avec des prix en hausse de 0,3 % en juin (contre 0,1 % en mai), sous l’effet des prix de l’énergie, là encore conforme aux anticipations des analystes.

Australia's Abacus Storage King said on Monday it received a sweetened takeover offer from a consortium comprising a South African billionaire, valuing the firm at A$2.17 billion ($1.42 billion) and sending its shares soaring over 7%. The consortium, which comprises businessman Nathan Kirsh's family office Ki Corp and U.S.-based Public Storage raised its bid to A$1.65 per share for the Australian self-storage firm. The revised price represents a roughly 15% premium to the initial offer excluding shareholder distribution. Abacus Storage shares rose as much as 7.1% to a three-week high of A$1.580, but remained below the new offer price.

Kraft Heinz  is preparing to break itself up, a decade after an infamous merger of two of the biggest names in packaged foods that was orchestrated by Warren Buffett and Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital Partners. The company is planning to spin off a large chunk of its grocery business, including many Kraft products, into a new entity that could be valued at as much as $20 billion on its own, according to people familiar with the matter. That would leave a company housing goods such as sauces and spreads like Heinz’s namesake ketchup and Dijon mustard brand Grey Poupon.

The CEO of TikTok is asking Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for an urgent meeting about the federal government’s order directing the company to shut down its Canadian operations. Shou Chew wrote to Joly on July 2 asking for an in-person meeting within two weeks, according to a letter obtained by The Canadian Press. Chew argued that order was made in different circumstances, when it looked like the United States was going to ban TikTok. “There is no upside to this outdated and counterproductive government order, which was issued under a different government and in a different era, and which doesn’t reflect today’s reality,” the letter says.

The European Union and South Korea said on Monday they were working on trade deals with U.S. President Donald Trump that would soften the blow from looming tariffs as Washington threatens to impose hefty duties from August 1. Trump stepped up his trade war on Saturday, saying he would impose a 30 per cent tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from next month, adding to similar warnings for other countries including Asian economic powerhouses Japan and South Korea. Speaking in Brussels, where EU trade ministers discussed the tariff threat, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic warned that a 30 per cent tariff would practically eliminate trade between the U.S. and the 27-nation bloc, which are currently each other’s largest trading partners.

Chaque dimanche, nous braquons les projecteurs sur des éléments de l’actualité financière et boursière qui peuvent être utiles à l’investisseur, mais qui pourraient être passés sous le radar. L’action de Bombardier a le potentiel pour plus que doubler de valeur au cours des cinq prochaines années à près de 330 $, selon la CIBC.

Pierre Karl Péladeau vient d’acheter près de 375 000 $ en actions de Québecor. Le PDG de la maison-mère de Vidéotron a acheté le 25 juin un bloc de 9000 actions à droit de vote multiple de catégorie A au prix unitaire de 41,41 $. La transaction a été réalisée par l’entremise de son holding privé personnel Financière Outremont. Il s’agit des premières actions de Québecor détenues par cette entité.

Tesla va soumettre à ses actionnaires un projet d’investissement au capital de la jeune pousse xAI, autre société contrôlée par Elon Musk, a indiqué dimanche l’entrepreneur sur son réseau social X. L’homme le plus riche du monde a répondu à un message d’un internaute suggérant une prise de participation du constructeur de voitures électriques dans le groupe d’intelligence artificielle (IA) xAI, qui a récemment absorbé X. « Cela ne dépend pas de moi », a écrit Elon Musk. « Si cela tenait à moi, Tesla aurait investi dans xAI il y a longtemps. Nous allons organiser un vote des actionnaires sur le sujet. » Selon le Wall Street Journal, une autre entreprise contrôlée par Elon Musk, SpaceX, va injecter deux milliards de dollars dans xAI, dans le cadre d’une augmentation de capital de 5 milliards.

French telecoms operators Orange, Bouygues and Iliad-owned Free are exploring a carve-up of Patrick Drahi’s rival telco SFR, in what would be a landmark deal to consolidate the country’s mobile market. Dividing up the group, which would probably be led by Bouygues or Iliad, would result in SFR’s assets being split between the companies, according to two people familiar with the matter. Blackstone, KKR and Ardian are among the investment groups to have recently held preliminary talks over financing options with SFR’s potential suitors, according to people familiar with the talks. The potential sale of SFR comes as Drahi has been dismantling the telecoms and media empire he built up via a $60bn debt-fuelled acquisition spree a decade ago.

How to approach goal-setting and incentive pay design in an increasingly unpredictable geopolitical environment. Accounting for unknowns is always the most challenging aspect of executive compensation design—and that exercise is shaping up to be particularly tricky this year. In addition to ongoing external forces like geopolitical tension and inflationary pressure, boards now also face uncertainty around tariffs as they address goal-setting and incentive pay practices. “How tariff actions will actually unfold and what impact those actions will have on businesses and industries are still unknown,” says Alexa Kierzkowski, a managing director at FW Cook. 

The NextGen Board Leaders program, sponsored by Wilson Sonsini and Meridian Compensation Partners, brings together experts and new public company board members under Chatham House Rule to discuss critical topics in corporate governance. At a recent Summit, held at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), leading experts shared timely insights on the rapidly evolving landscape of executive compensation. Several critical themes emerged that are shaping boardroom conversations and governance practices today.

Le chef américain de la diplomatie Marco Rubio rencontrera vendredi pour la première fois son homologue chinois Wang Yi en marge d’une réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères de l’Asean en Malaisie, a annoncé le département d’État américain. La rencontre intervient alors que Washington et Pékin sont en conflit sur des questions allant du commerce au fentanyl, en passant par Taïwan et les technologies de pointe ou encore le soutien, selon Washington, de la Chine à la machine de guerre russe en Ukraine. Il s’agira de la toute première entrevue en personne entre les deux plus hauts diplomates des deux pays depuis la prise de fonction de Marco Rubio en janvier dernier.

Marc Andreessen may be done with Delaware, though Delaware is not quite done with him. Andreessen Horowitz, the tech-led investment firm he co-founded, put out a letter on Wednesday saying its primary asset management subsidiary, AH Capital Management, would move its incorporation out of the state that houses, from a legal perspective, most of the biggest US companies. For decades, the small mid-Atlantic state reigned supreme for its technocratic approach to corporate law. But one of Delaware’s charms is also becoming a nuisance for some: its attentiveness towards the rights of minority investors. That has come to a head in recent messy court fights, such as that over Tesla’s $56bn pay package for Elon Musk, rejected in Delaware despite shareholders approving it twice.