Just to be clear: The KPMG employees cheated on the exams required to make sure that they were up to date on vital matters for professional competence. And the consequence is a fine and an order that they have to evaluate themselves to find out who cheated and bring in an outside consultant to look…
Applying Commonsense Principles 2.0 | Ethical Boardroom
An update on the Commonsense Principles for corporate governance, first published in 2017: The Commonsense Principles 2.0 built on the strong foundation of the 2016 Principles to reflect the evolving conversation and drive forward a more developed understanding of, and agreement on, the key tenants of corporate governance that support long-term value for all shareholders. Notably,…
Q&A with Harvard’s George Serafeim: The link between corporate governance and environmental and social impact | ImpactAlpha
Impact investors looking to drive positive benefits across their portfolios, however, have to ask a tougher question: Does ESG performance actually make any difference in terms of actual social and environmental impact? As ImpactAlpha’s podcast roundtable put it earlier this year, “If ‘ESG investing’ is so great, why is the world going to hell?” …Smarter…
Big businesses paying even less than expected under GOP tax law – POLITICO
Federal tax payments by big businesses are falling much faster than anticipated in the wake of Republicans’ tax cuts, providing ammunition to Democrats who are calling for corporate tax increases.The U.S. Treasury saw a 31 percent drop in corporate tax revenues last year, almost twice the decline official budget forecasters had predicted. Receipts were projected…
187 companies criticize state abortion bans in New York Times ad – Business Insider
We predicted that the new extreme anti-abortion laws adopted in several states could lead to some shareholder proposals next year. Corporations are ahead of them — 187 CEOs have signed a strong letter objecting to these laws as “bad for business” and a “ban on equality.” One hundred and eighty-seven companies have denounced states’ restrictions…
SEC Broker-Conflict Rules Face Wary Dems, States, and AARP
On June 5th, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a final regulation that governs the conduct of broker-dealers and their advisors. The name of the guidance is Regulation Best Interest, known as Reg BI. Reg BI won’t apply until June 30, 2020, roughly a year from now, but it is already generating a lot of…
Corporate Board Practices in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500: 2019 Edition | The Conference Board
Corporate governance has undergone a profound transformation in the last two decades, as a result of the legislative and regulatory changes that have expanded director responsibilities as well as the rise of more vocal shareholders. Yet the composition of the board of directors has not changed as rapidly as other governance practices, and to this…
Make Passengers Safer? Boeing Just Made Shareholders Richer.
Our research, based on publicly available information, strongly suggests that the dedication of Boeing’s senior executives to increasing their company’s profits and stock yield—which also augmented their own compensation—resulted in management decisions that contributed to the two 737 MAX crashes. While much more information remains to be discovered, the reported evidence, still unfolding almost daily,…
Bernie Sanders confronts Walmart leaders at annual shareholders meeting – CNNPolitics
For the first time in history, a Presidential candidate appeared at a corporate annual meeting in support of a shareholder proposal. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders came face-to-face with Walmart’s corporate leadership during the retail giant’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday in Arkansas, where he introduced an employee proposal to put workers on the…
Boaz Weinstein Sues BlackRock Alleging Corporate-Governance Failings – WSJ
Saba Capital Management, a $1.7 billion hedge fund run by Boaz Weinstein, has sued BlackRock Inc., BLK 1.63% arguing the world’s largest asset manager has moved to block outsiders from gaining board seats at three of its funds and effecting change.In two lawsuits filed late Tuesday, Saba alleged that BlackRock’s actions run counter to the…
