The mechanisms for holding individual directors, board committees and entire boards accountable for insufficient oversight on environmental, social and governance issues are expanding, and large investors are planning 2022 proxy season votes in advance with ESG in mind. At the Diligent Modern Governance virtual conference this week, stewardship executives from BlackRock and T. Rowe Price…
Agenda – Incentive Pay Under Fire
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has Wells Fargo & Co. in her cross hairs again. Last week newly elected board chair Stephen Black received a letter from the Massachusetts senator asking for details on CEO Charles Scharf’s compensation incentives, including specific metrics regarding governance and regulatory compliance targets and Scharf’s performance against them. On the same…
A crucial change is needed to improve corporate governance in Japan | Financial Times
Ever since Japan brought in codes of conduct for companies and shareholders, three words have echoed around the corporate landscape — “engagement”, “taiwa” (discussion) and “stewardship.” Japan set forth its first stewardship code for investors in 2014, and its first corporate governance code in 2015. At the time, I argued that a code for companies…
Reloading Ukraine’s corporate governance reforms – Atlantic Council
Corporate governance reform at Ukrainian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has reemerged as a national priority since April 2021 following management changes at energy giant Naftogaz. Tellingly, at the July 2021 Ukraine Reform Conference in Vilnius, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken named a new law on SOE corporate governance as one of Ukraine’s top five priorities….
S&P Global raises concerns over greenwashing | Corporate Secretary
Global reporting standardization could help mitigate investor concerns about ESG greenwashing in relation to green bonds, according to S&P Global. The financial information provider believes sustainable bond issuance, including green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, could collectively exceed $1 tn in 2021, a near 500 percent increase on 2018 figures. Despite this growth, a lack…
Accountable.us — Corporations Still Don’t Want to Pay Taxes
Accountable.us Reports: As the House Ways and Means Committee moves forward on President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda that will hold corporations accountable by making them pay their fair share, big corporate interests — led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — continue their massive lobbying blitz to obstruct much-needed progress to help American workers and families. These corporations are spending millions to stop help from getting into families’ pockets despite recent…
Huge investor coalition urges governments to accelerate climate action | Corporate Secretary
A huge investor coalition has called on national governments to accelerate policy changes that will support investment in climate change solutions. A group of 587 investment firms with a collective $46 trillion in assets under management yesterday issued a statement urging governments to take a range of actions, from strengthening emissions targets to mandating climate…
Agenda – Director Support Sinks on ESG Concerns
Directors saw lower reelection support this year during a proxy season in which investors showed unprecedented focus on environmental, social and governance issues. More directors received less than 70% support during this year’s proxy season compared to last year’s, according to data provided to Agenda by the Conference Board and AI analytics firm Esgauge. Similarly,…
Agenda – ‘Board Publicly Lied’ — Case Against Directors Moves Forward
The Boeing board “publicly lied” about monitoring airplane safety following two deadly 737 Max crashes, according to court records. Directors also allegedly failed to assess airplane safety and fell short in demanding or expecting safety reports from management. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn used these and other determinations to allow oversight claims against Boeing…
The Economic Rationale to Invest in Nature
The World Bank supports investment in “nature” with a series of supporting research linked to in the report. Our biodiverse planet is threatened by an unprecedented transformation and exploitation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems – caused mostly by human activities. The upcoming 15th Conference of Parties (COP-15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, offers an opportunity…
