Corporate governance - Vigil

HSBC Holdings reported its highest annual net profit since 2018 and said rising interest rates were likely to boost future returns, even as the banking giant took a charge against potential fallout from the stress in China’s property market.

SoFi Technologies Inc. is buying banking-software maker Technisys SA for about $1.1 billion, the latest in a string of deals designed to transform the lender into a one-stop financial shop.

Klarna, which already has more than 100 million customers globally, is announcing the Canadian launch on Tuesday. The company is opening a product-development office in Toronto – its first such “tech hub” in North America – with plans to hire more than 500 engineers in the next three years, adding to the competition for tech talent in Canada.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited has amended its Listing Rules, including the Corporate Governance Code,  to enhance the corporate governance framework and promote good governance among issuers.

Five years after the initial rules proposal and comment period, the SEC has re-opened the comment period and proposed new requirements to enhance the pay versus performance disclosure. CAP submitted comments to the SEC on the 2015 Proposed Rules, and this statement can be found here.

As previously reported by ISS Securities Class Action Services, the very first COVID-19 related class action was filed on March 12, 2020 in USDC Florida (Southern) against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Shareholders alleged the Miami-based company with deceptive sales tactics and misleading updates to the investor community related to its business and operations.

U.S. lawmakers in both parties are expressing concern with how Apple runs its App Store, leaving the company playing defense against legislation that would loosen its grip on the profitable business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission pushed back Friday on Tesla allegation that regulators are harassing Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk over his compliance with a 2018 regulatory settlement.

Activist investor Carl Icahn said he’s prepared to nominate directors at McDonald’s Corp. if the fast-food chain continues to use suppliers that house pregnant pigs in small crates, a practice he argues is inhumane.

Tesla accused U.S. regulators of harassing Chief Executive Elon Musk over his compliance with a 2018 regulatory settlement that sought to restrict his use of social media.

Now federal regulators are closing in on rules requiring all public companies to disclose their greenhouse-gas output. But they are struggling to figure out how much detail to demand about emissions produced by businesses’ suppliers and customers.

Volkswagen and the heirs of Beetle designer Ferdinand Porsche, the company’s largest shareholder, said on Tuesday they are in advanced talks that could lead to the initial public offering of the iconic Porsche AG sports-car maker.

Audit committee oversight is an important job that just keeps getting more complex. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act came into play in 2002, audit committees have evolved and adapted to fulfill their unique and expanding role.

Analysts have been predicting the cannabis retail market is due for consolidation. Mr. Munro is seeing that firsthand. On Tuesday, his company announced it had acquired two other retail brands, Cannoe Cannabis and Dimes Cannabis, with two locations apiece in Toronto. This brings the company’s total store count to 12, with four more opening soon.

The board that oversees the state’s $104.1 billion pension fund voted on Thursday to start using its shareholder power to pressure companies to act on climate change.

Our 2021 Proxy Paper reports for companies in the S&P 500 index included an assessment of company proxy statement disclosures relating to board diversity, skills, and the director nominating process. Specifically, we reflected how a company’s proxy statement presented the following features:

Carl Icahn has launched a proxy fight for two board seats at McDonald’s, as the activist investor pushes the fast-food chain to require its suppliers to change their treatment of pigs.

When Apple introduced a privacy feature for mobile devices last year that restricts user tracking, she said, her costs to acquire such customers rose 10-fold. In October, she shifted her whole ad budget to search ads on Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

Here is what some of the world’s corporate leaders said in their quarterly earnings reports last week about inflation, the supply chain, travel and dining, and the future of the internet.

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes have made a joint bid to take over Australia’s AGL Energy Ltd., the Australian Financial Review reported on Sunday.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the two propose shutting down AGL’s coal-fired power stations earlier than planned. AGL is one of Australia’s major energy providers.

As we near the two-year mark of the pandemic, the global economy has rebounded from the depths of mid-2020. The IMF projects global GDP to grow 4.9% in 2022, a downtick from the 5.9% growth expected in 2021, but still formidable. The 4,446 CEOs from 89 countries and territories who responded to our 25th Annual Global CEO Survey display optimism about continued economic resilience.

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger set a goal for the company to reach double-digit revenue growth in three to four years, as the semiconductor giant detailed the financial implications of a multiyear turnaround plan.