Corporate governance - Vigil

Le président américain Donald Trump a décidé de prolonger de 90 jours la détente avec Pékin sur le front des droits de douane, à quelques heures de la fin théorique de cette trêve entre les deux puissances. Le chef de l’État a signé lundi soir un décret pour officialiser le prolongement de cette trêve, précisant dans un message sur son réseau Truth Social que tous les autres éléments de l’accord restaient « identiques ». La Chine « continue de prendre des mesures importantes […] pour répondre aux préoccupations des États-Unis en matière de sécurité économique et nationale », a écrit le président américain dans son décret, ajoutant avoir déterminé qu’il « était nécessaire et approprié de maintenir » cette trêve jusqu’au 10 novembre 2025.

he principal concern regarding usage of AI tools in the boardroom remains their current lack of reliability. Even though some programs advertise their ability to identify individual speakers and take verbatim notes, the risk of error and “hallucinations” is still far from trivial, and the presence of the tool may naturally lead to decreased vigilance by the corporate secretary on important details, allowing meaningful mistakes to persist. In addition, these tools inevitably create a record of the meeting, if not an actual transcript, which raises additional concerns. First, this sensitive information may be stored in cloud-based systems where security cannot be guaranteed. Second, if this information from the board meeting is retained by the tool, it could waive the attorney-client privilege of otherwise protected discussions that occurred during the meeting. 

China on Monday said it hoped the United States will strive for “positive” trade outcomes, a day before a trade truce reached between the two countries last month is due to expire. “We hope that the U.S. will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state... and strive for positive outcomes on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement. The economic superpowers are working to reach a deal to lower trade tensions, after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed blistering tariffs on dozens of countries. The two hammered out a 90-day truce in May, and last month in Stockholm agreed to hold further talks on extending the ceasefire past an August 12 deadline.

Activist investor Engine Capital has built a stake in Avantor and plans to push the life-sciences company to sell itself or make other changes, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment firm could reveal its roughly 3% stake in Avantor on Monday, the people said. Radnor, Pa.-based Avantor sells lab equipment and supplies used by life-sciences companies and others. The company has a market value of about $7.8 billion after its shares fell nearly 50% so far this year.  Engine believes the company should either pursue an immediate sale or make changes that could include a board refresh, increased stock buybacks, cost cuts or selling noncore parts of its business, the people said. Engine thinks the entire company could sell for between $17 and $19 a share, according to the people. Shares closed Friday at $11.50. The investment firm also believes shares could trade as high as $26 apiece by the end of 2027 if the company were to make the necessary changes on its own, the people added.

Ottawa is spending $2-billion to increase pay and improve benefits for members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as part of a plan to boost military expenditures this fiscal year and bring Canada closer to its NATO commitment. The new compensation and benefits package, which will come into force in late fall, is the biggest to be introduced since 1998. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the changes Friday at a military base in Trenton, Ont. The outlay makes up part of the more than $9-billion he has promised to spend this fiscal year to bring Canada’s defence expenditure up to 2 per cent of its GDP. By 2035, Mr. Carney has pledged to hike that to 5 per cent in line with a recent target by North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. NATO members had been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase their contributions to the military alliance’s collective defence.

ATB Financial is buying independent investment dealer Cormark Securities Inc. The Alberta government-owned financial institution announced the deal early Monday, almost exactly one month after The Globe and Mail first reported ATB and Cormark were discussing a sale. Buying Cormark represents a significant expansion of ATB’s capital markets business, which has long focused on raising money for Alberta-based oil and gas companies. Toronto-based Cormark, which is owned by its roughly 100 employees, works across a range of industries and offers a full suite of investment banking services such as stock trading, sales and analysis. Cormark led nine stock sales worth a combined $270-million during the first six months of this year, according to LSEG Data & Analytics, accounting for 2.5 per cent of the domestic underwriting market.

Une PME technologique de médecine assistée par l’intelligence artificielle (IA) qui est dirigée et financée par des médecins montréalais est vendue pour 63 millions US à une entreprise de San Francisco, en Californie. Cette entreprise montréalaise, Pathway Medical, se décrit comme « une plateforme alimentée par l’IA qui aide les cliniciens à fournir des soins meilleurs, plus rapides et mieux informés en apportant des réponses instantanées et fondées sur des preuves aux questions médicales. » Pathway Medical dit faire affaire avec « des centaines de milliers d’utilisateurs inscrits (par abonnement payant), avec une forte présence aux États-Unis et à l’international. »

Chaque dimanche, nous braquons les projecteurs sur des éléments de l’actualité financière et boursière qui peuvent être utiles à l’investisseur, mais qui pourraient être passés sous le radar
Et le nouveau roi de la Bourse de Toronto est… De solides résultats à son deuxième trimestre, accompagnés d’une hausse des prévisions de la direction pour les trois prochains mois, ont permis une hausse de 20 % du cours de l’action de Shopify (SHOP, 207,66 $) la semaine dernière. Ce faisant, la valeur boursière du fournisseur de plateformes de création de boutiques en ligne et de services de paiement excède maintenant celle de la Banque Royale (RY, 182,12 $) et en fait la plus grosse compagnie canadienne en ce qui concerne la capitalisation boursière. 

Australia's central bank has a problem communicating that has injected an element of unpredictability into interest rate policy when global uncertainty is already high, and its proving costly for investors. It all stems from an April shake up at the Reserve Bank of Australia that shifted rate-setting power entirely to a new nine-member Monetary Policy Board. At just its second meeting in May, the board decided to cut cash rates by a quarter point to 3.85% and sounded more dovish than analysts expected, even briefly considering an easing of 50 basis points given the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs. This, combined with some soft economic data, led investors to wager heavily on another cut in July while a Reuters poll of 37 economists found 31 expected an easing. Crucially, investors were encouraged to pile into these positions because the RBA did not push back on expectations, as they had often done in the past.

Activist investor Engine Capital has urged Avantor to refresh its board with new directors, undertake cost cutting initiatives and even consider selling itself, lifting the life sciences company's shares nearly 8% higher on Monday. The move comes as Avantor's stock has slumped 45% this year, as the company faces weak demand from biotech and large pharma following the Trump administration's research funding cuts. Engine, which owns about 3% stake in Avantor, highlighted the company's challenges over the last five years in its letter to the firm's board, including repeated forecast cuts and consistent underperformance versus investor expectations. "We believe the board is responsible for Avantor's underperformance and has, in our opinion, failed to adequately oversee the company's operations, management, capital allocation and succession planning," Engine said.

Rolls-Royce has agreed to transfer its UK pension obligations to Pension Insurance Corporation in a deal that will shift liabilities worth £4.3bn off the engineering group’s balance sheet. The transaction, covering the retirement savings of 36,000 people, is the latest example of a pension risk transfer (PRT) deal in which companies pay insurers such as PIC to take on their financial obligations to pensioners. UK businesses from Boots to British Steel have insured their pension obligations or offloaded them to PRT specialists in recent years. Higher interest rates have reduced the value of the liabilities in pension plans, making the deals more affordable. Helen McCabe, chief financial officer of Rolls-Royce, said the deal to transfer the company’s liabilities for 15,000 pensioners and 21,000 deferred members was “a win-win for all our stakeholders”.

Air Canada et le syndicat représentant 10 000 de ses agents de bord s’apprêtent à reprendre les négociations vendredi afin d’éviter une grève qui pourrait éclater dans une semaine. La composante d’Air Canada du Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique (SCFP) a indiqué que les deux parties prévoyaient de retourner à la table de négociations vendredi, après que ses membres eurent voté à 99,7 % en faveur d’un mandat de grève. Le vote, qui s’est terminé mardi, signifie que les agents de bord peuvent potentiellement débrayer dès le 16 août à 0 h 01, moyennant un préavis d’au moins 72 heures.

Despite fewer campaigns being launched, activists are winning at unprecedented rates—and settling in record time. This shift signals a new era of shareholder activism where quality trumps quantity, leaving boards scrambling to defend their independence. Activist investors were awarded a record 112 board seats at U.S. companies during the first half of 2025, even though there was a 23 percent decline in board representation demands, according to a new report from Diligent. Will more board seats changing hands despite fewer shareholder demands be a trend that continues into the future? How should corporate board members react to what looks like a troubling development?

La Chine va percevoir des droits de douane temporaires sur les importations en provenance du Canada de produits issus du canola, un oléagineux apparenté au colza, a annoncé mardi le ministère du Commerce, après une enquête ayant déterminé de façon préliminaire qu’il y avait dumping. En mars, Pékin a imposé une surtaxe de 100 % sur l’huile de colza canadienne, les pois et les tourteaux, utilisés pour l’alimentation animale. La Chine a indiqué que cette mesure était une réponse à la décision d’Ottawa l’année dernière d’imposer des droits de 100 % sur les véhicules électriques chinois, en réponse aux mesures américaines similaires. Le Canada est parmi les principaux producteurs mondiaux de canola, une culture oléagineuse utilisée pour produire de l’huile de cuisson, des aliments pour animaux et du biodiesel.  

Software company Open Text Corp. has named veteran company executive James McGourlay as interim chief executive, effective immediately. McGourlay, most recently Open Text’s executive vice-president, international sales, replaces Mark Barrenechea, who was also chief technology officer and vice-chair of the board. Savinay Berry, the company’s executive vice-president and chief product officer, was named chief technology officer. Open Text says its board has formed a CEO search committee to find its next CEO and will hire an executive search firm to help with the process. Open Text also announced the appointment of P. Thomas Jenkins as executive chair and chief strategy officer and the establishment of an executive committee. Jenkins, currently board chair, previously served as CEO and executive chair.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is set to visit the White House Monday after President Trump called for his removal last week over ties to Chinese businesses, according to people familiar with the matter. Tan is expected to have a wide-ranging conversation with Trump, with the intent of explaining his personal and professional background, the people said. He could also propose ways that the government and Intel could work together, they said. Tan hopes to win Trump’s approval by showing his commitment to the country and pledging the importance of keeping Intel’s manufacturing capabilities as a national security issue, one of the people said. 

Many Target shoppers are frustrated with the retailer. Many Target employees are too. In early June, a companywide survey showed that roughly half of Target’s employees didn’t think the company was making the changes necessary to compete effectively. About 40% of the roughly 260,000 staffers who replied said they didn’t have confidence in the company’s future. The scores—which declined from a year ago—were even lower for those staffers at Target’s headquarters in Minneapolis. The worker sentiment data reflects the challenges ahead for the company as it prepares to navigate a leadership change and turn around 10 quarters of flat or falling sales in an increasingly complex consumer environment. In an internal video on Aug. 6, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez acknowledged that the worker survey showed that “we need to do a better job of empowering you to do your best work.” He asked leaders to remove obstacles and simplify the way teams work.

Several of Canada’s most prominent real estate companies are slamming an attempt from a B.C. billionaire to take over 25 former Hudson’s Bay leases, saying her plan for their spaces “defies commercial common sense” and is “entirely unrealistic.” The landlords, including Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties, Ivanhoé Cambridge, KingSett Capital Inc., Morguard Investments Ltd. and Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust, made filings Saturday that ask the Ontario Superior Court to stop Weihong (Ruby) Liu from moving in. Most said they are opposed to Ms. Liu becoming a tenant because she has no detailed or credible business plan and despite owning three B.C. shopping centres, lacks the experience or staff she’d need to successfully operate a retailer out of the Bay’s former digs.

Anthony Ostler travelled to Switzerland in May with a sobering message for the world’s banking standard-setter: If countries continue to apply new global capital requirements inconsistently, the competitiveness of the banking sector could take a hit as geopolitical turmoil destabilizes economies around the world. The CEO of the Canadian Bankers Association wasn’t just delivering his warning on behalf of Canada’s big banks. He was also speaking for institutions around the world as the recently elected chair of the International Banking Federation, or IBFed, an international lobby group that collectively represents 18,000 banks. The membership is made up of national bank advocacy organizations, including the CBA, the American Bankers Association and the European Banking Federation. Mr. Ostler began his new role in January just as U.S. President Donald Trump was taking office with pledges to relax the country’s banking regulation.

Le département du Commerce des États-Unis a annoncé sa décision sans appel de plus que doubler les droits compensateurs sur les importations de bois d’œuvre résineux canadien. Cette décision, selon des groupes d’entreprises de la Colombie-Britannique, portera préjudice aux collectivités des deux côtés de la frontière. Un communiqué du département américain indique que les droits pour la plupart des entreprises canadiennes passent de 6,74 % à 14,63 %, après avoir déterminé que le bois d’œuvre résineux canadien était injustement subventionné. Cette augmentation s’ajoute à une récente hausse des droits antidumping, qui sont passés à 20,56 %, ce qui porte le niveau total des droits sur le bois d’œuvre résineux canadien à 35,19 %.

Les géants américains des semi-conducteurs Nvidia et Advanced Micro Devices ont accepté de verser au gouvernement américain 15 % de leurs revenus provenant de la vente de puces destinées à l’intelligence artificielle à la Chine, une décision très inhabituelle, rapportée par plusieurs médias. « Nous suivons les règles établies par le gouvernement américain pour notre participation aux marchés mondiaux », a affirmé Nvidia lundi dans une réponse écrite à l’AFP, sans mentionner ces 15 %. Le PDG de Nvidia, Jensen Huang, a rencontré le président américain Donald Trump à la Maison-Blanche mercredi dernier et a accepté de reverser au gouvernement américain une partie de ses revenus, un arrangement très inhabituel dans le commerce international des technologies, selon des informations initialement publiées dans le Financial Times, Bloomberg et le New York Times.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman in an X post on Sunday suggested merging U.S. government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the move would help reduce mortgage rates and achieve huge synergies both in their operations and in the trading price. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been eying an initial public offering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac later this year, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday, confirming news first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The share sales could value Fannie and Freddie at nearly $500 billion combined, the official said. Ackman, who has held stakes in Fannie and Freddie for more than a decade, said the merger would also reduce the cost and risks of government oversight as there would be only one institution that would require oversight by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

U.S. video platform and cloud services provider Rumble is considering an offer of about $1.17 billion (1 billion euros) for German AI cloud group Northern Data according to statements from both companies. Rumble said on Sunday that a deal would give it control of Northern Data's GPU-rich cloud business, Taiga, and its large-scale data center arm, Ardent, with plans to integrate both into its own operations. The Taiga cloud unit holds a significant inventory of Nvidia GPU chips, including around 20,480 H100s and over 2,000 H200s. Northern Data said on Monday that its board is evaluating Rumble's potential offer and is open for further discussions. Rumble is considering offering 2.319 shares for each Northern Data share, both companies said. The proposed offer values Northern Data at about $18.3 per share, based on Reuters calculations, and represents a discount of about 32% to the German company's last closing price in Frankfurt.

One of the billionaire co-founders of EG Group has called for the petrol station giant to explore a sale of its $5bn-plus US business, offering up an alternative to private equity backer TDR Capital’s plan for an initial public offering of the entire business. Zuber Issa, who retains a 25 per cent stake and a seat on the board of EG after stepping down as its co-chief executive last year, told the Financial Times he wants EG to pursue a sale of its US business to reduce debt. “There are people who want to buy the US assets,” said Zuber in an interview at EG’s global headquarters in his hometown of Blackburn, Lancashire. “It will be an auction process which would get to a clear end goal much quicker [than an IPO] and we can pay the debt off.”

Canada’s softwood lumber industry is welcoming a $1.2-billion federal support package that promotes diversifying the country’s trading partners as the trade war with the U.S. drags on, but officials caution that exporters cannot completely extricate themselves from their closest and largest market. The measures announced this week by Prime Minister Mark Carney include programs to diversify and expand trade by marketing Canadian wood products abroad and prioritizing domestic lumber in a national housing construction push. That is a tall order. The industry has sought for years to bolster sales globally as the United States imposed crippling duties on producers, and now those duties look set to increase while President Donald Trump’s threat of additional tariffs also looms.