Corporate governance - Vigil

The federal government is taking steps to eliminate the interprovincial trade barriers under its jurisdiction, Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland announced in a press release Monday. In a statement, Freeland said Ottawa has now removed all 53 federal exemptions in the Canada Free Trade Agreement that would inhibit interprovincial trade. Prime Minister Mark Carney significantly reduced the number of federal barriers prior to the spring election, but there were still just shy of two dozen exemptions left in place, primarily for national security reasons. According to the statement, most of the now-eliminated exceptions related to federal procurement rules, for example when it comes to financial entities, commercial land development, transportation services and space projects.

Canada’s dropping of a tax on U.S. tech giants under the pressure of Donald Trump is fuelling concern about the future of such levies in other countries, particularly in Europe. “Currently, about half of all European OECD countries have either announced, proposed, or implemented” a digital services tax pending global action, said the Tax Foundation, a think tank which supports the introduction of such taxes. But the future of such measures is unclear after the Group of Seven nations agreed Saturday to exempt US multinational companies from a global minimum tax imposed by other countries. The move sparked a pointed reaction from Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

Un juge fédéral a débouté lundi Apple de son appel contre le ministère américain de la Justice, une décision qui ouvre la voie à un procès du fabricant de l’iPhone pour abus de position dominante aux États-Unis. Le gouvernement américain avait assigné le groupe de Cupertino (Californie) en mars 2024 pour pratiques monopolistiques destinées à maintenir et renforcer la position de l’iPhone sur le marché des téléphones intelligents. Apple avait fait appel en août et demandé l’annulation de toute la procédure. Il faisait valoir que le ministère de la Justice n’avait pas apporté la preuve que le groupe était bien en situation

Le Groenland a accordé à une société minière canadienne l’autorisation d’explorer des gisements de molybdène, un métal essentiel à la production d’acier, afin de répondre à la demande croissante de l’industrie de la défense. Cette grande île arctique et ses richesses minérales sont devenues un enjeu géopolitique brûlant depuis que Donald Trump exprime ouvertement ses visées sur ce territoire outre-mer du Danemark. Au même moment, l’Union européenne (UE) a ciblé le Groenland comme une zone d’intérêt stratégique à exploiter pour mieux assurer son autonomie en matières premières.

Un autre syndicat vient de s’entendre avec Hydro-Québec. Après celui des employés de techniques professionnelles et de bureau, qui compte 2300 membres, c’est au tour des employés de réseau d’Hydro-Québec d’annoncer qu’une entente de principe est intervenue avec l’employeur « aux petites heures du matin, dans la nuit du 30 juin au 1er juillet ». Les employés de réseau, au nombre de 206, avaient déclenché une grève des heures supplémentaires du 16 au 19 juin dernier. Le Tribunal administratif du travail avait imposé le maintien de services essentiels sur lesquels s’étaient entendus le syndicat et l’employeur.

Nominating an alternative slate of directors is about the best leverage an activist can get. But some are choosing a leaner, less costly approach, urging shareholders to withhold votes from incumbent board members. Unlike traditional proxy battles, withhold campaigns skip nominating a new slate or waging lengthy solicitation wars. Instead, activists call for the removal of specific directors, often those responsible for compensation or governance issues, to send a message without escalating to a full confrontation. The Diligent Market Intelligence (DMI) editorial team has reported on 33 distinct activist withhold campaigns over the 12 months ending June 17, up from 23 such campaigns in the same period of 2023–24 and 24 campaigns over the same timeline in 2022–23.

Here’s what boards should know about recent SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions, and how they will impact compliance oversight moving forward. Understanding the fraud risk landscape within the financial reporting ecosystem is essential for preserving trust in capital markets and protecting investors. As financial reporting becomes more complex, so do the ways in which fraud can be perpetrated; vigilance is more important than ever. The entire financial reporting ecosystem—preparers, internal and external auditors, audit committees, and regulators—play a critical role in identifying, mitigating, and responding to these evolving risks.

Meta is looking to raise $29bn to fund its all-in push into artificial intelligence, turning to private capital firms to finance its build out of data centres in the US. Talks between the Instagram-owner and private credit investors have advanced, with several large players including Apollo Global Management, KKR, Brookfield, Carlyle and Pimco involved in the discussions, according to people familiar with the matter. Meta is hoping to raise $3bn of equity from them and then a further $26bn of debt. But it is debating how to structure the massive debt raising, as it considers options for what will be one of the largest private fundraisings of its kind. The company could also look to raise more capital, one person added.

Home Depot said on Monday unit SRS Distribution has agreed to acquire specialty building products distributor GMS for about $4.3 billion, stepping up its efforts to capture more demand from professional contractors. The deal also comes amid threats of a hostile takeover for GMS from billionaire Brad Jacobs-led rival QXO. Home improvement retailers have been sprucing up their professional building materials portfolio to cater to contractors as homeowners pare back on spending big money on large-scale renovation projects. SRS has offered $110 per GMS share held, representing a premium of nearly 36% to the stock's close on June 18, before the QXO bid was made public. Shares of GMS jumped 11.8% to $108.83 in early trading.

Santander  is among bidders that submitted a binding offer for Spanish lender Sabadell's British unit TSB, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The offer would value the British bank at more than 2.3 billion pounds ($3.15 billion), one of the people said. Sabadell may hold a board meeting as soon as Tuesday to decide on whether to proceed and if so which bid will win, the person said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is private. Santander and Sabadell declined to comment. Other potential bidders include Barclays, Bloomberg previously reported, which Barclays has not commented on. Reuters could not establish who the other bidders were.

Hyatt Hotels said on Monday it has agreed to sell the real estate portfolio owned by Playa Hotels to Tortuga Resorts for US$2 billion, as the U.S. hospitality chain seeks to strengthen its asset-light business. Hyatt had entered into a deal to buy Playa, which operates 24 high-end, all-inclusive resorts across Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, for $2.6 billion including debt in February. Following the sale of the portfolio, which includes 15 resort assets, Hyatt’s net purchase price for the remaining of Playa’s business is about $555 million, the company said. The real estate deal, subject to regulatory approval in Mexico, is expected to close before the end of 2025. “The rapid sale of the real estate from the transaction is likely to be taken positively by investors,” said Richard Clarke, analyst at Bernstein.

Senate Republicans charged forward Monday with a marathon session to pass President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” as the party races to get the legislation to the president’s desk by their self-imposed July 4 deadline. The voting on amendments and procedural motions is expected to last many hours as the various GOP factions seek to push the bill in their favored direction on charged political issues such as Medicaid, food-assistance programs and tax cuts. Centrists are fighting to limit cuts to benefit programs and potentially reel back changes to clean-energy tax credits. Fiscal conservatives argue that the bill is a prime opportunity to address the nation’s rising debt, and they are pushing for deeper spending cuts. 

Canadian machine learning efficiency company CentML Inc. has been acquired by U.S. technology giant Nvidia Corp. NVDA-Q, the latest Canadian-founded company to end up in American hands in recent weeks. The Toronto-based company, co-founded by University of Toronto professor Gennady Pekhimenko, specializes in optimizing how AI applications run. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Nvidia has acquired CentML, including its technology and customer base. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they are not authorized to talk publicly. Nvidia was among CentML’s early investors, joining Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund, and others in the $37-million seed-funding round. Toronto-based Radical Ventures was also an investor.

Bombardier said on Monday it had received an order for 50 of its Challenger and Global aircraft, alongside a service agreement, valued collectively at US$1.7 billion, with deliveries scheduled to commence in 2027. Bombardier said the customer, who has chosen to remain anonymous, would hold 70 new aircraft purchase options, which, if exercised, would increase the combined value of the aircraft and service agreements to over $4 billion. Earlier this year, the company said it expects new order activity to be slower through the first half of the year and to pick up after that. The Montreal-based company said in May that it expects to deliver more than 150 business jets this year, compared with 146 in 2024.

At the beginning of June, economists at National Bank slapped a label on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s business agenda. They called his approach MCIA, for Make Canada Investable Again. “After years of trading at a discount to the U.S. – both at the index level and across most industries – the MCIA initiative aims to reposition Canada as a more attractive destination for both domestic and foreign private capital," said Stéfane Marion and Matthieu Arseneau, respectively the chief economist and deputy chief at National Bank in a report. “In our view, this supports a narrowing of the S&P/TSX’s valuation gap relative to the S&P 500.” Call it MCIA, call it anti-MAGA, call it what you want. Investors spent the last month committing serious amounts of cash to stock sales that aligned with the policy objectives Mr. Carney stressed during the election campaign and Throne Speech in late May.

De nombreuses voix s'élèvent contre Ottawa à la suite de l'annulation de la taxe sur les services numériques. Les pourparlers en vue d’un accord commercial entre le Canada et les États-Unis ont repris lundi matin, après avoir été suspendus par Donald Trump vendredi. C’est la décision du gouvernement canadien d’annuler sa taxe sur les services numériques, dimanche, qui a convaincu Washington de revenir à la table de négociations, mais certains craignent que le Canada n’ait laissé aller un grand pan de sa souveraineté numérique. « C’est une belle façon de souligner la fête du Canada », ironise Alain Saulnier. L’auteur de l’ouvrage Tenir tête aux géants du web était abasourdi par la décision du gouvernement canadien d’annuler la taxe sur les services numériques lorsque La Presse l’a joint, lundi matin.

Le président de la banque centrale des États-Unis (Fed) Jerome Powell, sans cesse vilipendé par Donald Trump, a affirmé mardi que l’institution monétaire américaine devait travailler de manière « totalement non partisane » pour remplir sa mission. « Nous essayons d’assurer la stabilité macroéconomique, la stabilité financière […] dans l’intérêt de tous les citoyens. Si nous voulons y parvenir, nous devons le faire de manière totalement non partisane », a déclaré M. Powell, lors du forum annuel organisé par la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) à Sintra, au Portugal. « Cela signifie que nous ne prenons pas parti, nous ne choisissons pas un camp contre l’autre. Nous ne nous mêlons pas des questions qui ne sont pas de notre ressort et nous restons concentrés sur ces questions », a ajouté le président de la Réserve fédérale américaine.

La proportion des investissements nationaux des grandes caisses de retraite canadiennes a fondu en un quart de siècle. Des voix s’élèvent maintenant pour réclamer qu’elles renversent cette tendance. Est-ce une bonne idée?
Depuis un peu plus d’un an, le gouvernement fédéral a mis de l’avant certaines mesures pour inciter les caisses de retraite à investir davantage au pays. Ce qu’il n’a pas fait jusqu’à maintenant : obliger les caisses de retraite à agir. Une bonne nouvelle, selon François Dauphin, PDG de l’Institut sur la gouvernance (IGOPP). « L’objectif des caisses de retraite reste d’assurer la pérennité de leur régime afin de pouvoir payer leurs rentes, rappelle-t-il. Chaque caisse a des besoins, des sorties de fonds et des horizons de placement différents, qui déterminent leur stratégie de répartition d’actifs. »

Board members and executives recognize the critical impact of leadership style on performance both in the C-suite and the boardroom. As boardrooms prioritize talent strategy, identifying and selecting the right executives has become a central concern. Directors recognize the significant impact of soft skills, particularly during times that require transformation, succession or cultural change. The ability to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders, manage conflict and build consensus as well as to steadily maintain critical thinking are just a few of the soft skills necessary to navigate the choppy waters that organizations sometimes face.

Shareholder proposals have long been the province of left-leaning groups, challenging a variety of issues ranging from excessive pay, to human rights and environmental issues. Now more conservative-leaning groups are deploying the shareholder proposal process for right-leaning causes, possibly emboldened by the broader political backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion issues and several recent US Supreme Court decisions including Students for Fair Admissions vs Harvard, which found that race-based affirmative action programmes were discriminatory, Among the top proposals this season include recommendations to prevent the use of DEI goals to set executive pay and to prevent alleged boycotts of certain right-leaning websites, including X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

U.S. drugmaker AbbVie said on Monday it will acquire cell therapy developer Capstan Therapeutics in a cash deal worth up to $2.1 billion, expanding its pipeline with experimental treatments for autoimmune diseases. AbbVie has been diversifying its portfolio to make up for a steep decline in the sales of Humira, its flagship rheumatoid arthritis drug that is facing stiff competition. Since Humira's patent expiration, AbbVie has spent over $20 billion on acquisitions, including $8.7 billion for neuroscience firm Cerevel, $10.1 billion for cancer drugmaker ImmunoGen and $1.4 billion for Alzheimer's-focused biotech Aliada. Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will pay up to $2.1 billion in cash to acquire Capstan, subject to certain customary adjustments.

Alphabet's Google said on Monday it has struck a deal to buy power from a project in Virginia fueled by fusion, the reaction that powers the sun and the stars but is not yet commercial on Earth. Google signed what it called the technology's first direct corporate power purchase agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a company that spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018. The deal is for 200 megawatts of power, about enough to power a small city, from CFS's ARC project that is being developed in Virginia, home to the world's biggest hub of energy-hungry data centers. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Canada will hold a byelection on Aug. 18 in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to run in the riding with hopes of regaining a seat in the House of Commons. MP Damien Kurek resigned his seat on June 17 to give Poilievre a chance to return to Parliament. The prime minister pledged in May to call a byelection as soon as possible to give Poilievre an opportunity to reclaim his position as Opposition leader. Poilievre lost to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton during the federal election in April.

An investor in the narcolepsy drugmaker Avadel Pharmaceuticals plans to call for shareholders to vote out the company’s entire board of directors, ratcheting up pressure on management in a tough environment for biopharmaceutical companies. ASL Strategic Value Fund plans to publish an open letter arguing that Avadel has mismanaged the launch of its main treatment, causing the company to miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, according to a copy of the letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Avadel makes a treatment for people with narcolepsy called Lumryz. The company has a market cap of around $900 million. The stock has fallen about 35% in the past year.