GOP AGs Write to ISS and Glass Lewis

Here they go again. The GOP AGs have sent another tut-tut letter, this time to the two biggest proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass-Lewis, again apparently drafted by corporations behind the Republican Attorneys General Association. It has a lot of footnotes and legal language and reminds them that they have to comply with various laws…

Global Risks Report: World Economic Forum

Note to those who claim ESG is not based exclusively on assessments of risk and return. The World Economic Forum report on global risks makes it clear that climate change is a key factor. From the key findings: Cost of living dominates global risks in the next two years while climate action failure dominates the…

Enhanced Proxy Voting Disclosure Requirements for Investment Funds

On November 2, 2022, the SEC voted 3 to 2 (Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda dissenting) to adopt amendments to Form N-PX to enhance the information mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and certain other registered funds (“funds”) report about their proxy votes (together, the “final rules”). In addition, the final rules will require disclosure on Form…

The Flaw in Anti-ESG Logic: Financial Interests of Companies Like Meta Don’t Always Align with Those of Its Shareholders

In the last few months, there has been an organized effort to falsely argue that companies and institutional investors are inappropriately prioritizing social and environmental responsibility over financial returns. The effort includes state treasurers from Texas, West Virginia, and Florida, as well as anti-ESG activist and fund manager Vivek Ramaswamy. These critics charge that when companies…

Goldman Sachs to Pay $4 Million to Settle Investigation Over ESG Funds – WSJ

WASHINGTON—Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset-management arm agreed Tuesday to pay $4 million to settle a regulatory investigation into how it managed mutual funds and other products that pick stocks based on environmental, social and governance criteria.The Securities and Exchange Commission said Goldman marketed the ESG funds and a similar investment strategy without always following a…

Cryptocurrency 2.0 is Just Stone Soup

Remember the fable of stone soup? A traveler comes to a town famous for the miserliness of its inhabitants. He tells them he has the secret of making soup from a stone. They are very excited about this money-saving possibility and gather around him as he places a stone in a vat of boiling water….

Why IBM Doesn’t Do (Direct) Political Contributions – The New York Times

In a New York Times interview, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna spoke about corporations taking political positions and making contributions. He does not discuss political involvement via groups like the Business Roundtable. IBM has a history of involving itself in difficult social and political issues, including being among the first companies to offer benefits to same-sex…

Is Elon Musk Inching Away From Twitter

When Twitter’s board abruptly changed its tune on his offer to buy the company — from poison pill to LFG!! — bankers surmised what had happened. Goldman Sachs, on behalf of Twitter, had gone out and asked every other potential buyer it could think of to swoop in and make a better deal — and…