Corporate governance - Vigil

In our article, The Importance of Trust for Investment: Evidence from Venture Capital, forthcoming in the Review of Financial Studies, we ask whether trust among nations affects the decision to make an investment across different countries, how trust is related to investment success, and how trust affects deal structures. Following the social capital literature, we define trust as a subjective belief about the likelihood that a potential trading partner will act honestly.

The announced settlement of the referenced matter appears to be a product of coerced capitulation rather than of the parties’ relative assessments of the merits. It appears that ValueAct, in response to the FTC’s post-litigation decision to dramatically increase the penalties for violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (the “HSR Act”) and to apply them retroactively, made a rational decision to settle.

In their landmark paper, BHB concluded that a portfolio’s static target asset allocation explained the majority of a broadly diversified portfolio’s return variability over time. These findings were confirmed by Vanguard and other research, including Ibbotson and Kaplan (2000), suggesting that a portfolio’s investment policy is an important contributor to return variability (Hood, 2005).

The company announced mid-July that it would take a $32 million after-tax hit because of revised cost estimates to a significant project

Those who design and steer the development of the technology landscape can mitigate risk by setting operating standards and promoting cross-functional collaboration.

The Eurofi High Level Seminar 2016, which took place in Amsterdam from 20-22 April during the Dutch EU Council Presidency, examined new trends and objectives in the financial sector, amongst which the improvement of conduct and culture. The full report of the event was made available this month, [1] containing an account of the discussions held during the roundtable on conduct & culture. [2] The choice of this theme denotes both a new trend in the financial sector and growing regulatory concern with conduct & culture in the financial services industry.

Making investment decisions that maximize shareholder value is the central task of corporate managers, and every MBA curriculum features state-of-the-art valuation tools prominently. Nevertheless, making investment decisions in the real world is difficult because even the best valuation tools rely to a considerable extent on assumptions that are subjective.

Canada's IPO market is dead and the TSX is being overrun by frankenstocks instead of real companies. It's the quietest crisis facing the economy today.

The Canadian train and plane maker said it is on track to meet its full-year guidance and its 2020 goals despite reporting a larger than expected second-quarter loss

The departure of Saatchi & Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts after his complacent and misguided interview leaves gender bias in corporate life unaffected

Following a 292,000 job gain in June, the economy generated 255,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent as an increase in labor force participation offset the strong job gain.

George S. Barrett, Chairman and CEO, Cardinal Health, Inc., Elected Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees

A most curious press release sprouted up amidst summer’s hot growing season: 13 leaders of public companies and investing firms have put forth self-professed governance principles for public companies. As can often happen with a group drawn from diverse constituencies, however, and no matter how laudable the goal, the message avoided controversy—and thus at times clarity. In many areas the principles simply restated what has become commonly accepted as the norm—and in other areas they merely described known facts without clearly adopting a position—thereby resulting in analytical hedging. While the governance principles are undeniably appropriate to initiate a dialogue, they beg the question of what raw issues lurk under the surface.

In the paper, Racial and Gender Inequality in the Boardroom, we analyze the individual compensation levels of S&P 1,500 directors and find that minority and female (“diverse”) directors earn systematically lower compensation than their peers serving within the same board, despite having higher qualifications on average. The lower compensation is largely a function of board responsibilities, but also reflects differences in pay not attributable board leadership or service on the primary committees.

CEO pay ratios exploded in the late 1990s. Companies will soon have to disclose. Survey finds workers aren't so upset now. Better prepare, or they will be.