Corporate governance - Vigil

BlackRock has come out fighting against Texas’s decision to single it out as hostile to fossil fuels, calling the state’s targeting of it “opportunistic”, “anti-competitive” and “bad for business”. The world’s biggest asset manager was the only US company included by Glenn Hegar, Texas comptroller, on a list of 10 financial institutions that “boycott” fossil fuels. The groups face possible divestment by state pension funds. “Trying to stop a US company from doing business in its own backyard is bad for business,” said Mark McCombe, the head of BlackRock’s US business, who made multiple trips to Texas to lobby state officials while the list was being drawn up. “It looks opportunistic in this climate.” “We have never turned our back on Texas oil and gas companies,” said McCombe, noting that BlackRock is the single largest investor in the state’s oil and gas industry and has $290bn in Texas-based assets. “This is anti-competitive.”

More companies are including ESG factors along with the other risk factors they track as part of a robust financial crime and anti-bribery & corruption rating system. Corporations have added environmental, social & governance (ESG) factors to their financial crime and anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) risk rating systems used to vet clients, suppliers, and third-party entities. Those companies with more advanced ESG programs have realized the vulnerability to bribery and corruption risks posed by some sustainability or climate change mitigation efforts, such as carbon offset schemes. “ESG is also about green crime [and] human trafficking, which is linked with money laundering and with bribery and corruption. They all come into the same circle,” says Gabriel Cozma, head of financial and fintech at the Lysis Group, a financial crime specialist in London. A few banks too now risk-rate their client base and third-party relationships according to some ESG criteria alongside ABC and money-laundering risk screening. Some will not on-board those clients or third parties who do not meet those criteria, Cozma adds.

When the activist investor Dan Loeb announced earlier this month that his hedge fund had taken a new stake in Walt Disney Co., he called for a wide-ranging menu of changes. One was a “refresh” of Disney’s board. Mr. Loeb, chief executive of Third Point LLC, wrote in a now-public letter to Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek that the board suffered from “gaps in talent and experience as a group that must be addressed.”

Many of the country’s real-estate companies are struggling. More than 30 have defaulted on their dollar-denominated bonds, and even the strongest private-sector developers have faced challenges selling new debt as their bond prices have tumbled and yields have soared. In recent days, a flurry of large and small Chinese developers have put out profit warnings.

The complaint from former Twitter security executive Peiter Zatko was filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, which are expected to investigate.

Après avoir annoncé son intention de réduire de 35 % d’ici 2025 l’empreinte carbone de son parc immobilier, la filiale immobilière de la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec vient justement de démontrer qu’il était possible de le faire. La prochaine étape est de passer de la parole aux actes, en vue d’atteindre la carboneutralité au plus tard en 2040.

On 6 August 2021, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rules, collectively dubbed Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule, relating to the demographics of boards of directors of Nasdaq-listed companies. In the few months since, commentary has focused on the supposed need to grow the pool of qualified directors from diverse backgrounds, the belief that these directors will need special training in public company board norms and the logistics of allocating board seats to new directors. We have noted two trends among business and legal writers in examining the impact of the Rule.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP will contribute US$15-billion and own 49 per cent of the venture, with Intel owning the other 51 per cent.

Brookfield has secured debt to finance the bulk of its contribution, with only about US$500-million to US$750-million in an equity investment, made over the several years it will take to build the plants. Proceeds will come from cash flow and “capital recycling” – cashing out other investments.

But this malaise can be mitigated if leaders embrace what Dr. Robinson calls procedural justice, an approach that rests on transparency and fairness. Companies should clearly explain why and how they made their decisions, acknowledge the harm the layoffs will cause in a genuine fashion and give remaining employees a chance to voice their thoughts.

Les données personnelles d’au moins quatre personnes identifiées comme des cadres au sein du constructeur des Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo et Can-Am ont été compromises. Deux ont quitté l’entreprise, selon leur profil LinkedIn. Les autres sont toujours employés de la multinationale.

BEIJING — The risk of Chinese stocks delisting from U.S. exchanges has nearly halved after regulators reached an audit agreement, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report Monday. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced Friday that both sides signed an agreement for cooperation on inspecting the audit work papers of U.S.- listed Chinese companies. China’s Ministry of Finance also signed the agreement. “This is no doubt a regulatory breakthrough,” Goldman Sachs’ Kinger Lau and a team said, while cautioning that much uncertainty remains. They pointed out the PCAOB said the deal was only a first step, while the Chinese side said they would provide “assistance” in the inspections. The PCAOB said it planned to have inspectors on the ground in China by mid-September, and make a determination in December on whether China was still obstructing access to audit information.

Dramatic move shows Mark Zuckerberg ‘desperate to avoid being questioned over cover-up’, says Observer journalist who exposed scandal. Facebook has dramatically agreed to settle a lawsuit seeking damages for allowing Cambridge Analytica access to the private data of tens of millions of users, four years after the Observer exposed the scandal that mired the tech giant in repeated controversy. A court filing reveals that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has in principle settled for an undisclosed sum a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the UK analysis firm. It follows revelations of mass data misuse made by a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower to the Observer in 2018, an exposé that forced chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress and led to the social media firm receiving a multibillion-pound fine. Days after the story was published, Facebook’s share price fell by the equivalent of more than $100bn.

The stage is set for a manufacturing resurgence in the United States. Can the country’s producers make it happen? US manufacturing may be poised for an overhaul and a rebound, with a potentially significant impact on the nation’s overall economy. In the United States, manufacturing accounts for $2.3 trillion in GDP, employs 12 million people, and supports hundreds of local economies. Although that represents just 11 percent of US GDP and 8 percent of direct employment, the sector makes a disproportionate economic contribution, including 20 percent of the nation’s capital investment, 35 percent of productivity growth, 60 percent of exports, and 70 percent of business R&D spending. [...] Some recent trends point to the potential for a resurgence of growth, especially if manufacturers take a few key measures to strengthen their position in the market.

In return, the Meta chief executive agreed not to purchase the startup, Within Unlimited Inc., and its fitness app called Supernatural, in his personal capacity or through any other entities he controls, according to a court document filed Tuesday.

Le Canada sera en grande partie responsable de l’augmentation de la production d’hydrogène et l’Allemagne se concentrera principalement sur un corridor maritime pour le transporter à travers l’Atlantique.

CSRD will significantly expand the scope and content of the EU’s existing non-financial reporting regime under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). Under Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, entities in scope of NFRD are also required to report on their Taxonomy alignment. The amendments made by CSRD therefore mean that a broader range of entities will also be required to make disclosures of their Taxonomy alignment. Another key difference between NFRD and CSRD is that the new rules will introduce a mandatory audit and assurance regime to ensure the reliability of data and avoid greenwashing and/or double accounting.

“Fundamentally we see that continuing through the back half of this year,” Mr. Kazzaz told an investors conference Tuesday. “As time goes by, we certainly don’t expect to see this sort of disruption into 2023. I think it will continue to improve.”

According to Rogers, under Videotron’s ownership, Freedom would be better placed to compete in wireless services with Bell, Rogers and Telus than it would have been under Shaw’s ownership, given the Montreal-based company’s “history as a disruptive competitor” and ownership of 3.5 GHz spectrum – ideal for supporting fifth-generation, or 5G, cell service.

Further, it added that the acquisition of Freedom would provide Videotron with a “fast, efficient and effective” expansion out of Quebec as a result of fewer network and retail costs. Freedom has more than 1.7 million subscribers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Turquoise last week rejected an offer by Rio Tinto for $2.7-billion, saying the majority shareholder’s proposal did not reflect the Canadian company’s full and fair value.

“Rio Tinto believes this offer not only provides full and fair value for Turquoise Hill shareholders, but is in the best interests of all stakeholders as we work to move the Oyu Tolgoi project forward,” Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said on Wednesday