Delaware courts have become increasingly attentive to how boards oversee “mission-critical” risks. Although the legal standards relating to the duty of oversight have not changed in name, recent decisions show that the courts have higher expectations for directors to install meaningful systems for monitoring compliance and safety issues. These expectations apply across traditional corporate sectors and extend to emerging industries such as cryptocurrency and cannabis, where regulatory scrutiny is evolving. Boards that rely on high-level summaries, untested assumptions about management, or informal reporting practices place themselves at significant risk. Several recent cases demonstrate how directors can be held accountable when the information needed to adequately oversee mission-critical risks never reaches the boardroom.

Beretta Holding, the world’s oldest firearms manufacturer, is taking aim at US-based Sturm Ruger, threatening a proxy fight to overhaul the board of the struggling gunmaker after becoming its largest shareholder. Family-owned Beretta, which is headquartered in Luxembourg, is working with advisers to prepare for a proxy contest, including searching for potential candidates to nominate to Ruger’s board ahead of an annual general meeting later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. In October, Ruger adopted a so-called poison pill defence to block a hostile takeover after Beretta disclosed a 9 per cent stake in its rival. Ruger said at the time it would meet Beretta with the intention of “learning more about what operational and strategic collaborations they have in mind”. Beretta has since upped its stake to just shy of 10 per cent.

Activist investor Engaged Capital is planning to run a proxy fight to install four outside directors at software maker BlackLine arguing new blood is needed in the boardroom to pursue strategic options, including a possible sale, two people familiar with the matter said. Engaged, which owns more than 1 million shares in BlackLine and ranks as one of its 20 largest shareholders, has criticized CEO Owen Ryan and the board for being slow to review alternatives for its business and has pressed management and the board to consider selling the company to a competitor. A representative for BlackLine was not immediately available for comment. BlackLine has a market value of $3.4 billion. Its stock price has risen 1.7% in the last 12 months, closing at $56.59 on Friday. 

Banco BPM is looking to increase seats reserved for minority shareholders as it prepares to appoint a new board, two sources said, after France's Credit Agricole strengthened its ties with the Italian bank. Credit Agricole said late on Monday it had received European Central Bank approval to raise its stake in Banco BPM above 20%, cementing its position as a long-term shareholder in Italy's third-largest bank. The main investor in BPM, Credit Agricole last year helped the Italian bank thwart a takeover attempt by UniCredit during a hectic consolidation wave in Italy. It reiterated it will keep its holding below the mandatory takeover threshold. The government is due to change the threshold to 30% for all listed companies from 25% for large ones and 30% for smaller firms.

U.S. Bancorp has struck a deal to buy BTIG, a financial-services firm specializing in investment banking, institutional sales and trading, research and prime brokerage, for up to $1 billion in cash and stock. U.S. Bancorp on Tuesday said it will pay an initial $725 million for BTIG, consisting of $362.5 million in cash and 6.6 million shares, with up to an additional $275 million of cash payable over three years subject to certain performance targets. The deal is slated to close in the second quarter. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp said it expects the acquisition to expand its markets-based product set and revenue while bolstering its support for institutional clients. U.S. Bancorp said BTIG brings it new capabilities, including institutional equity sales and trading, equity capital markets, equity electronic trading, and M&A advisory, which it expects will accelerate its capital markets momentum.

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it cancelled US$7.6-billion in clean energy grants for projects in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. The grants supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, including battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid and efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions. The Energy Department said the projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable. Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said on social media that “the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said the administration’s action violated the Constitution’s equal protection requirements.

Mark Carney makes his first trip to China as prime minister this week with an agenda that would have seemed unlikely before U.S. President Donald Trump took office: warming relations with the authoritarian state to a degree not seen in a decade, plus carving out a bigger role for Beijing in Canada’s economy. It hasn’t even been one year since a public inquiry’s final report warned Ottawa that China is “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions,” and during the 2025 election campaign Mr. Carney himself described China as Canada’s biggest security threat. It’s a significant pivot, entirely because of the need to offset the economic damage that Mr. Trump’s protectionist tariffs – and threats of more – are doing to Canada.

Taïwan a annoncé mardi avoir trouvé un « consensus général » avec les États-Unis en vue de la conclusion d’un accord commercial, toujours pas finalisé depuis l’offensive douanière de Donald Trump début 2025. Taïwan et les États-Unis ont entamé des négociations en avril pour mettre au point un accord commercial après que le président américain a menacé d’imposer une taxe douanière de 32 % sur les exportations taïwanaises, ensuite abaissée à 20 %. Le président taïwanais Lai Ching-te s’est engagé à accroître ses investissements aux États-Unis, tandis que son gouvernement cherche à réduire davantage les taxes sur ses expéditions et à éviter de nouveaux droits de douane sur ses exportations de puces électroniques. « L’objectif des négociations douanières États-Unis-Taïwan a toujours été de viser des réductions réciproques de droits de douane sans empiler les taxes et d’obtenir un traitement préférentiel dans le cadre de la section 232 », et les deux parties ont trouvé un « consensus général » sur ce point, a annoncé le bureau des Négociations commerciales taïwanais dans un communiqué.

Les États-Unis ont terminé 2025 avec une inflation en décembre de 2,7 % sur un an, un rythme stable par rapport à novembre, selon l’indice des prix à la consommation (CPI) publié mardi. La question du coût de la vie reste centrale aux États-Unis alors que le président Donald Trump est revenu au pouvoir l’an dernier en promettant notamment de redresser le pouvoir d’achat des Américains. À 2,7 % en rythme annuel, l’indice CPI de décembre 2025 marque une atténuation par rapport au niveau qui était le sien en décembre 2024 (2,9 %), mais son évolution n’a pas été linéaire au cours de l’année. En net ralentissement jusqu’en avril (2,3 %), il est ensuite reparti à la hausse, après que le président Trump a annoncé une vague de nouveaux droits de douane sur les produits entrant dans le pays.

A proposed one-year cap on credit card interest rates backed by U.S. President Donald Trump could reduce borrowing costs for some consumers but also limit credit availability, pressure bank profits and reshape the economics of consumer lending. Trump called for the cap on Friday, without detailing how the plan would be implemented, while Wall Street analysts said such a move would require legislation and has slim odds of getting clearance. Financial stocks from Wall Street to Canary Wharf fell on the news on Monday. Credit card debt, with rates currently averaging 19.65%, according to consumer financial services company Bankrate, compounds quickly, particularly when borrowers make only minimum payments rather than paying off balances in full. This form of borrowing, known as revolving credit, can keep consumers in debt for years as interest costs accumulate and balances decline slowly.

Healthcare executives gather for their big annual conference in San Francisco on Monday as the sector is flush with cash and set for a deals spree as patents on drugs worth almost 12 per cent of the industry’s revenues expire in the years ahead. The JPMorgan healthcare conference takes place as uncertainty recedes over President Donald Trump’s trade wars, drug pricing policy and the leadership of key regulators such as the US Food and Drug Administration. In response, the S&P biotech index, known as the XBI, has surged to a four-year high, outperforming the wider index. In addition, drugs that contribute about $180bn of revenue a year are set to go off patent in 2027 and 2028, representing almost 12 per cent of the global market, according to research firm Evaluate Pharma. More than $40bn of sales are expected to lose patent protection this year, Evaluate has estimated.

A structured annual evaluation of the external auditor helps audit committees maintain audit quality, safeguard market confidence and bolster communication between both parties. By conducting a disciplined assessment of the external auditor’s independence, technical proficiency and overall performance, audit committees reinforce a critical safeguard. A high-quality audit is a shared responsibility that depends on robust, constructive dialogue between the external auditor and the audit committee. “The evaluation and the appointment of the external auditor is one of the audit committee’s key responsibilities and it’s important to follow a consistent process year over year,” said Sara Grootwassink Lewis. As such, implementing a formalized assessment is an effective way to facilitate essential conversations and an important tool in establishing a consistent review process.

After filing for creditor protection, Montreal-based luxury fashion brand SSENSE says its co-founders will buy the company back. According to a news release issued Sunday, brothers Rami Atallah, Bassel Atallah and Firas Atallah and their strategic partner won their bid in the Court-supervised Sale and Investment Solicitation Process (SISP) conducted under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). While “the parties have entered into a definitive purchase agreement,” final sale hinges on typical closing conditions like court and regulatory approvals. The company expects the transaction to close by Feb. 14. SSENSE, founded by the Atallah brothers in 2003, sells high-end clothing and accessories both online and in-store. Last August, SSENSE claimed its lenders were trying to sell the company without its consent and filed for creditor protection.

In the current fast changing, unsure, mixed, and unclear business world, the boardroom stands as a key space where leader quality gets checked, and company's future gets formed. Demand from senior people sitting inside, or working close with, boards has grown very high. They are not judged only for money care or work smoothness, but for skill to guide direction, shape rule thinking, and guard lasting value building. This shifting scene has created thoughts of executive superpowers — a group of special leadership strengths allowing leaders to make steady board level strategic effect. Such powers are not dream ideas; they can be seen, trained, and strongly linked to how leaders act at top decision places.

Une étude commandée par la Société pour la nature et les parcs (SNAP Québec) soutient que le projet d’agrandissement du Port de Montréal à Contrecœur risque d’être un « fardeau financier pour les contribuables » et repose notamment sur des projections irréalistes. SNAP Québec, une organisation consacrée à la protection de la nature et des espèces menacées compte contester en Cour fédérale le projet d’expansion du Port de Montréal, car il mettrait en péril la survie du chevalier cuivré, une espèce en voie de disparition. Mardi, la même organisation qui menace de poursuivre le fédéral pour avoir autorisé le projet, a publié une étude qui soutient que cette infrastructure, risque « d’être sous-utilisée, non rentable et un fardeau financier pour les contribuables canadiens ».

Japan's plan to give authorities the power to order foreign investors to retroactively divest acquisitions is aimed at sheltering major firms and supply chains, though it is unlikely to curtail increased M&A interest, experts say. Japan on Wednesday proposed amendments to its foreign investment screening law that would grant authorities an option to force foreigners to sell investments deemed to pose risks to national or economic security. The proposals come as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration steps up efforts to mitigate risks from an inflow of foreign money to Japan's economic security and control over key supply chains. At present, overseas investors seeking to buy stakes in Japanese companies outside of sectors that are critical to economic or national security are not required to notify the government in advance, leaving officials with no ability to intervene.

The Trump administration has finalized a deal with drugmaker AbbVie to cut the cost of certain medicines, marking the latest pact as part of its “Most Favored Nation” pricing initiative. The deal comes days after the administration inked a deal with Johnson & Johnson, which was announced by the drugmaker without the White House fanfare that accompanied the agreements unveiled with more than a dozen manufacturers last year. Under the agreement, AbbVie said Monday it will offer a series of drugs to Medicaid as well as directly to consumers at “Most Favored Nation” levels, or the lowest price available in peer countries. It will sell some other medications at a deep discount compared to their list prices.

The Supreme Court of Panama is winding up deliberations that will decide whether a Hong Kong company can run two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, a decision closely watched in Washington and Beijing. The case carries the weight of geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. President Trump has said he wanted to take back control of the canal, which the U.S. built in the early 20th century and handed over to Panama in late 1999. China, meanwhile, has thrown up obstacles to the sale of the canal ports and other assets operated by Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison to a group led by BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Co. A ruling is expected soon. For Panama’s Supreme Court justices, the political pressure is immense. 

Central bank chiefs from around the world lined up in support of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, issuing an unprecedented statement of solidarity after the Trump administration threatened him with a criminal indictment. Powell has been threatened with a probe over Congressional testimony he gave last summer about the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, which he has called a “pretext” to win presidential influence over interest rates. “We stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell,” the heads of some of the world’s largest central banks said in a rare joint statement. Independence from government influence has been the key foundation ⁠of modern central banking. It remained the unquestioned standard until U.S. President Donald Trump started demanding lower rates and putting pressure on individual policy-makers when they failed to oblige.

Le Bureau de la concurrence du Canada est préoccupé par les conditions auxquelles font face les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) lorsque vient le temps d’aller chercher du financement, particulièrement des prêts à terme. Une consultation menée à l’automne auprès de dizaines d’organisations a permis d’identifier des paramètres précis qui pourraient nuire aux PME dans l’obtention de financement. Parmi ceux-ci, la domination du secteur du crédit par les grandes banques ainsi que la difficulté pour les nouveaux prêteurs de se tailler une place sur le marché, peut-on lire dans une synthèse produite par le Bureau de la concurrence. Un rapport déposé par la Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval (CCILaval) abonde d’ailleurs dans ce sens.

Alors que le premier ministre canadien Mark Carney arrive en Chine mercredi, ses hôtes y voient une occasion de distancier cet allié de longue date des États-Unis, leur rival, du moins quelque peu. Les médias d’État chinois appellent le gouvernement canadien à définir une politique étrangère indépendante des États-Unis – ce qu’ils qualifient d’« autonomie stratégique ». Le Canada a longtemps été l’un des plus proches alliés des États-Unis, tant sur le plan géographique qu’à d’autres égards. Mais Pékin espère que l’agression économique – et désormais militaire – du président Donald Trump contre d’autres pays fragilisera cette relation de longue date. Le gouvernement chinois s’était indigné des efforts déployés par l’ancien président américain Joe Biden pour renforcer les relations avec l’Europe, l’Australie, l’Inde, le Canada et d’autres pays afin de contrer la Chine. Il y voit maintenant une occasion de tenter de distendre ces liens, tout en restant prudent quant à l’ampleur de cette démarche.  

Paramount Skydance on Monday sued Warner Bros Discovery for more information on a rival $82.7 billion deal with Netflix, escalating a battle to take control of one of the ​most storied Hollywood studios. The David Ellison-led company also said it plans to nominate ‌directors to Warner Bros Discovery's board, in one of its most aggressive steps yet to convince shareholders that its hostile $30-per-share cash bid is superior to the $27.75-per-share cash-and-stock offer from Netflix. The CBS parent and Netflix have been in a heated battle for Warner Bros, its prized film and television studios, and its ‌extensive content library that includes "Harry Potter" and the DC Comics universe. In a letter ​to shareholders, Paramount also said it would propose an amendment to Warner Bros' bylaws that would require shareholder approval for any separation of the media giant's cable TV business - which is ‍key to the Netflix deal.

An experienced CEO was offered the top role at a well-known public company with strong perceived fundamentals. He was excited to say yes. He’d met with all the board members, several of whom he knew personally. He had years of relevant industry experience and was energized by the role’s prestige and how it would build on his skillset and previous successes while offering new challenges. But only a few months into the job, he discovered that the company had little room to maneuver in the face of unexpected headwinds and lack of flexibility due to financial pressures. “It was like being asked to run a six-minute mile—from a quarter mile behind the starting line,” he reflected later. “I didn’t have an accurate view of where we were actually beginning.”

As policymakers and corporate leaders debate the future of quarterly financial reporting in the US, a significant shift looms over how public companies communicate with investors and how they are held accountable. Beginning in 1970, the US has required its public companies to report its earnings every three months. Any previous attempts to cut this back has been met with opposition from shareholders and industry groups who argue that the changes could threaten transparency and market volatility. This time around the call to review this requirement was triggered by the Long-Term Stock Exchange, in the form of a petition to the SEC to allow public companies to report earnings semi-annually. They have argued it will lead to reduced regulation, greater long-term focus and alignment with non-US jurisdicti

Not only should corporate boards understand when to seize opportunities to grow their companies, they must also know “what to stop doing.” And their people remain the most critical “difference-maker.” So says Tony DiBenedetto, board chair for Appspace, a Tampa, Florida-based company that provides a digital workplace communication, collaboration and management platform. DiBenedetto also serves on the boards for two other Tampa-based companies: A-Lign, which provides a cybersecurity compliance platform, and Trofeo, a cloud solutions company specializing in Microsoft Azure.