Corporate governance - Vigil

A financial technology start-up that Walmart created and backed said Wednesday it is acquiring two more companies as it aims to build an all-in-one app where consumers can manage their money.

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is extending both the range of companies it expects to address women’s representation on boards and the degree to which it wants larger issuers to do so.

For many, the primary concern in supply chain design was cost, with little inquiry into how supply chain partners conducted business. However, more and more, such money-oriented approaches to business are no longer viewed as sustainable over the medium to long term. Rather, for business to succeed over time, companies must balance the interests of all stakeholders.

Last year, major investors took unprecedented steps through engagement efforts and proxy voting to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the climate transition and board and workforce diversity and inclusion, with focus given to disclosure and reporting of key ESG metrics and how the board, including board committees, oversees these issues.  This year, major investors have indicated that they plan to revisit the same issues, but with focus on strategy, innovation and harnessing stakeholder capitalism to guide long-term value creation.

The big-box retail giant did not disclose the size of the equity stake or the terms of the commercial deal, but said a Walmart executive will join Plenty’s board. Walmart’s investment is part of a $400 million round of funding for Plenty led by One Madison Group and JS Capital, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund.

Rising demand for semiconductors has helped lift Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to a market capitalization of $600 billion, making it the most valuable company in Asia.

Deloitte LLP is joining Corporate Canada’s swelling ranks of startup financiers, just as valuations of tech companies swoon amid a public markets sell-off.

Activision lags far behind, disclosing much less ESG information and having far fewer policies in place. If the deal goes through, it could take years for Microsoft to bring Activision into line with its practices, experts said.

A consortium backed by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP has offered roughly $9 billion to buy department store Kohl’s according to people familiar with the matter.

The SPAC boom, which is now turning to bust, pitted too much money against too few company names—in one case, literally.

As the metaverse becomes more robust (which is a function of its: features, scalability, stability, and uptime) the quality, volume, and value of in-world end-user interaction will increase.

FTI Consulting’s annual CFO Survey offers insights from business leaders on the challenges they face and their expectations for 2022. The CFO Survey includes organizations across all major industries. Respondents include chief financial officers, financial planning and analysis leaders, finance vice presidents as well as directors, controllers, treasurers and others with financial decision-making roles.

2021 was the most active year for M&A on record. There can be no other headline for the relentless boom in M&A over the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, during which global M&A volume exceeded $5.8 trillion, the highest annual volume on record. Each of the four quarters of 2021 placed in the top six most active quarters in global M&A by volume since the beginning of 2010. As always, however, the headline figures do not tell the whole story, as M&A in 2021 was not only historically robust, but also as complex and multi-faceted as ever.

From high-profile figures such as Greta Thunberg to events like the COP26 summit, discussions about sustainability, the environment and climate change are perhaps more visible than ever before.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is exploring ways to improve cybersecurity in capital markets, including by extending compliance obligations to companies that currently don’t have to meet them, Chairman Gary Gensler said Monday.

Facebook  says it’s helping millions of the world’s poorest people get online through apps and services that allow them to use internet data free. Internal company documents show that many of these people end up being charged in amounts that collectively add up to an estimated millions of dollars a month.

Real estate transaction fees could nearly double for some clients of legal software provider Dye & Durham, as the company is significantly increasing prices for Canadian clients, the latest in a series of fee hikes that have drawn a flood of complaints from its users.

The Morrison government’s reforms to inject greater transparency and accountability around proxy advice are a common-sense step to improve confidence in the system.

An activist is pushing Peloton to fire its chief executive officer immediately and consider a sale as its share price has plummeted.

Trian Fund Management LP, the activist hedge fund run by Nelson Peltz, has acquired a stake in Unilever, according to people familiar with the matter, adding pressure to the packaged food and consumer goods giant

Tension between Leon Black and his Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder Josh Harris is boiling over, threatening to buffet the investment giant with fresh controversy.

Global equities surged in 2021 during a year full of surprises. As the new year begins, perhaps the only sure thing is that there will be more surprises to come in 2022. So how can investors prepare for unexpected developments driven by macroeconomic forces, the pandemic and geopolitical risk?