Corporate governance - Vigil

Risk means a lot of things to a lot of different people. If you talk to IT people about risks, you’ll hear about the risk of server outages or data breaches or software vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches. 

You might also hear about unauthorized devices, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, and how difficult it is to monitor what employees are doing with the company’s data on their home networks now that they’re working remotely.

Large investors such as Brookfield are pouring money into clean-energy firms, betting that strong demand will support renewable developers through a period of rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.

The money for the deals comes from a $15 billion Brookfield fund dedicated to the energy transition that is co-led by Mark Carney—the former head of central banks in the U.K. and Canada and the United Nations’ point person on climate finance—and Connor Teskey, head of the firm’s renewables unit. The megafund and other funds backed by TPG Inc., Blackstone Inc. and others, are betting heavily on clean-energy projects. 

But as the focus shifts from words to deeds, the contradictions in esg are becoming brutally clear. It is the mission of companies to generate long-term value for their investors. That might sometimes align with the aim of decarbonisation. Unfortunately, it will often be more profitable for a business to dump costs, such as pollution, on to society than to bear them directly. And in places without a consensus on climate policy, getting involved in greenery can bring clashes with both regulators and investors. Unless governments resolve the dilemma, esg is doomed to fall short on actions.

En tout, on dénombre quelque 430 000 entreprises francophones situées en milieu minoritaire – une masse critique qui représente près de 20 % du PIB et génère plus de 130 milliards de dollars en retombées économiques à l’extérieur du Québec. Résultat : les communautés francophones veulent être un pilier de la relance économique.

« Des entreprises francophones qui assurent des services en français à leurs clients, cela vient assurer la pérennité de la langue française dans les communautés francophones en milieu minoritaire », a certifié M. Bigeau dans une entrevue à La Presse.

Le plus grand exportateur mondial ne ressent pas non plus l’impact de la volonté affirmée de ses partenaires commerciaux traumatisés par la pandémie de réduire leur dépendance aux produits « Made in China ». Du moins, pas encore. La part de la Chine dans le total des exportations mondiales continue d’augmenter, selon les chiffres de la Conférence des Nations unies pour le commerce et le développement (UNCTAD).

While medical cannabis has been legal since 2017, Germany would be the first country in the European Union to legalize the drug for recreational use. As Europe’s largest economy with nearly double Canada’s population, Germany’s recreational market is expected to quickly outpace domestic demand.

With the prospect of a new cash source in grasp, Canadian companies are jostling to position themselves to capitalize on the new opportunity. But several barriers stand in their way: Legislation could ban Germany from importing Canadian-grown cannabis, fundraising remains a challenge for Canadian producers and legalization could still be years away.

With its new fund, Lumira Ventures Opportunity Fund 1, the Toronto firm is following what many established U.S. biotech investors – including OrbiMed Advisors LLC, H.I.G. Capital and Baker Brothers Advisors LLC – have done for years by backing both public and private companies. By contrast, it’s rare to find fund managers in Canada that specialize in publicly traded drug and medical device development.

The Southeast Gateway pipeline is expected to be operational by 2025, and TC Energy said the project enjoys broad-based support from all levels of government, environmentalists and regulators. The project will allow the CFE to replace power plants currently fuelled by high-sulphur oil with natural gas-fired facilities that produce half the greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Over the course of this decade, Mexico’s appetite for natural gas is expected to increase by 50 per cent.

Workplace diversity is characterized by the presence of employees from a variety of backgrounds, according to the BoardEx report. “This includes diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and religion – especially those that are statistically underrepresented in professional environments,” the study said. “But successful workplace diversity also combines these characteristics with other attributes, such as diversity of experience, background, culture, and unique insight as well. At the C-suite and board levels, achieving diversity must begin with proactive and intentional recruitment efforts. This is the only way to ensure that a company’s leadership will meaningfully reflect the diversity of its workforce, its customer base, its various stakeholders, and society at large.”

Why the disconnect between director intention and reality? For two reasons: full boards are working on sustainability-related details that do not require significant attention from all members, and management is not framing a sufficiently developed discussion on strategic implications of sustainability. In combination, this prevents directors from devoting board time to high-value strategic reflection on sustainability.

As technology’s strategic importance to the business expands, management needs stronger board guidance. Four engagement models have proven useful. Across industries and regions, the evidence is clear: technology is increasingly a key part of every organization’s business strategy. Yet boards often struggle with the best way to engage in technology, and there continues to be discontinuity between the board and management when it comes to major technology initiatives. One management team, for example, came to its board with a proposal to purchase an expensive, cutting-edge new technology system, which they believed would help them outperform their competition. The board, however, lacked a clear mechanism to provide effective guidance on technology topics, and so it wasn’t able to ask probing questions about the system’s true value to the business, push for a practical governance model to manage such a complex implementation, or establish meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress. After months of costly implementation work, the vendor failed to deliver significant value. Only later did the management team and the board realize a standard, low-cost solution would have been just as effective in meeting the goals of the project.

While many biotech and life-science companies have impeccable products and intellectual property pipelines, they are often in need of appropriate capital to execute the company’s mission.

There are numerous ways to raise capital, from many different markets (private and public). For purposes of this discussion, we will focus on five measures that all companies should implement to maximize value and minimize risk when undertaking any capital raise.

Shareholders at Tesla’s annual meeting in August backed the proposed re-election of directors Ira Ehrenpreis and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, who have served on the board since 2007 and 2018, respectively.

Mr. Gebbia waived any entitlement to cash compensation at the moment and joined the remainder of the board in waiving immediate equity compensation until July 2023, until the board makes such determinations, Tesla said in a securities filing. He most recently transitioned to an adviser role while serving on the board of both Airbnb and Airbnb.org, the Austin, Texas-based company said in a blog post.

The shift in energy policy hints at a more profound change in how governments govern. Politicians have long sought to provide safety nets or stimulus in bad times. But over the past 15 years, they have become far more willing to shore up vast swathes of the economy. When industries, companies or people get into trouble, fiscal help is never far away. Gains are privatised, but a growing share of losses or even potential losses are socialised. To appreciate this role for the state, discard much of the conventional wisdom, which says that in the “neoliberal” era governments have let free markets run riot. Instead, this is an era of “bail-outs for everyone”.

« Les entités à l’intérieur de la structure valent plus que le titre », lance le gestionnaire de portefeuille Philippe Hynes, de la firme Tonus Capital.

Au printemps dernier, Long Path Partners, une firme privée d’investissement du Connecticut, a perçu une occasion et fait l’acquisition d’une participation supérieure à 10 % dans mdf.

« Je ne serais pas surpris que d’autres investisseurs stratégiques et fonds privés regardent ça », dit Philippe Hynes.

« Il y a une belle valeur. Il y a quelque chose à faire. Ce n’est pas une entreprise brisée. Je continue d’aimer la valeur du titre », ajoute cet actionnaire.

The unprecedented leak included dozens of videos showing robberies, gunplay and open-world driving and was posted on an online message board. Bloomberg News said sources familiar with the game’s development had confirmed the videos were real.

“It’s a PR disaster, possibly sets back production and hurts morale,” Jefferies wrote in a client note, warning the potential leak of the game’s source code could pose a bigger threat.

“Rapidly cooling growth, the pullback in housing prices, and less pressure on supply chains will help cap core inflation relatively soon,” said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

“However, we believe that it will be sticky, and will descend only slowly through 2023,” he added.

The broadening of price increases, increased wage settlements, as well as rising consumer and business inflation expectations are signs that inflation is becoming more entrenched in the economy, economists told Reuters. Six of eight said they see signs of entrenchment.

“We share a common view that our shares offer a highly compelling investment opportunity and as a result believe that a more substantial share-buyback program is a highly attractive use of excess cash,” said Kinross chief executive Paul Rollinson in a press release. Prior to the agreement, Kinross planned to buy back US$150-million of stock this year and pay out an additional US$150-million in dividends. Kinross will still pay investors the dividend.

Today’s fast changing face of the business world requires recognition that to remain relevant and competitive in the marketplace, organisations have to design with precision, a disciplined workforce. Great amount of attention has to be paid on facilitating transfer of knowledge and experience between the constituents. Managers are coached by their supervisors. The compelling question is, who coaches and mentor, the numero uno of the organisation? Who can be the CEO’s mentor?

Les nouveaux défis auxquels font face les Conseils les amènent à s’interroger sur leur mode de fonctionnement et leur façon de répondre collectivement à la mission qui leur est confiée, ainsi qu’aux challenges qui sont les leurs. Pour mieux comprendre comment les administrateurs perçoivent l’enjeu de la diversité, en termes d’opportunités comme de défis, l’Audit Committee Institute de KPMG a interrogé plus de 700 administrateurs en France et dans le monde. Cette étude révèle les principales transformations en cours et à venir :

• 68 % des répondants en France seraient désireux de faire évoluer notablement la composition de leurs Conseils (59 % pour le panel international) et 11 % de façon radicalement différente (contre 4 % dans le monde) ;
• 58 % des répondants (contre 46 % à l’international) se disent préoccupés, et 10 % extrêmement préoccupés, par le fait que le manque de diversité des points de vue au sein des Conseils puisse empêcher l’émergence de discussions judicieuses ;

We provide a framework to help boards achieve effective governance that positions their companies for strategic success and drives long‑term value. In brief: 

• The right framework can help boards effectively fulfill their oversight role, position their companies for strategic success and drive long‑term value.
• A strong mission and clear engagement model along with effective information practices are foundational pillars for board effectiveness.
• Boards that strive for effective composition, operations, dynamics, decision-making, and evaluations can achieve effective governance.

In a world of constant change, a company’s board plays an important role in helping move it forward amid rising complexity, innovation and periodic crises while remaining true to its purpose and values.