Second supplement to our previous comment: We endorse the comment of Ken Bertsch of the Council of Institutional Investors fully and incorporate it by reference into our own. We note that there has yet to be a single specific example of a proxy vote that was incorrectly or harmfully cast as a result of inappropriate,…
FTC’s $5 Billion Fine Alone Won’t Get Facebook Out of Crosshairs – WSJ
“Five billion is literally the cost of doing business,” said Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has long pushed for greater regulatory scrutiny of Facebook’s privacy practices.“If they get some serious new privacy obligations, that would be interesting. If they got governance reform, that would be interesting. What would not be…
The Test of Time: Adapting to a New Era of Executive Compensation
In 2018, CalPERS voted against 45.4% of the S&P 500 on Say on Pay, according to corporate governance nonprofit As You Sow. These results are drastically higher than in previous years, as its five-year average for opposing Say on Pay votes was 16%. According to Simiso Nzima, Investment Director of Global Equity at CalPERS, among…
Corporate climate ignorance poses threat to pensions | Minerva-Manifest
Nearly half of major companies in the highest polluting sectors worldwide are failing to weigh up how climate change will affect their businesses. The findings come from the State of the Transition report compiled by the Transition Pathway Initiative, an organisation backed by asset owners and fund managers, representing some US $14 trillion in assets.It…
Materiality in the Atossa Genetics Case
Ann Lipton writes: I just recently came across the Ninth Circuit’s decision in In re Atossa Genetics Inc Securities Litigation, 868 F.3d 78 (9th Cir. 2017), and it struck me because it highlights an ongoing tension between the reliance/materiality distinction in fraud-on-the-market cases in general, and in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in particular….One might describe…
Framework on Climate Change | International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds
President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway convened a roundtable discussion with the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund Working Group (“One Planet SWF Group”) at the Elysée Palace followed by a press conference, to mark the publication of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund Framework (“the Framework”).The objective of the…
‘I have never seen this’: Aimia shareholders call for new meeting after ‘outrageous conduct’ – The Globe and Mail
A group of shareholders at Aimia Inc. are calling for a redo of last month’s annual general meeting, which they say was “plagued with irregularities” and “outrageous conduct.” The group, dubbed Aimia Shareholders for Accountability, said the chairman refused to conduct votes or take questions and allowed security guards to intimidate shareholders who attempted to…
Intercontinental Exchange Launches NYSE Board Advisory Council to Advance Board Diversity – Bloomberg
This announcement from the NYSE about a new program to support board diversity undermines its own credibility from the start by referring to the member CEOs’ “own personal networks” as the way to find directors. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), announced the launch of the NYSE…
Reckitt boss ‘should repay bonus’ over opioid deal | Business | The Times
Senior executives of Reckitt Benckiser face pressure to return lucrative bonuses after it agreed to pay $1.4 billion to resolve long-running US investigations into the sales and marketing of a treatment for opioid addiction. Source: Reckitt boss ‘should repay bonus’ over opioid deal | Business | The Times
Climate activists find warmer reception at shareholder meetings – Reuters
Climate activists found companies more receptive to steps like cutting emissions or buying clean power this year, a new tally of shareholder resolutions shows, a trend proponents said undercuts the case for proxy rule changes sought by business groups. Of the 145 climate-related proposals filed for this year’s springtime annual meeting season, 39 percent led…
