United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) announced the formation of a working group to develop legislative proposals and conduct oversight focused on fundamentally reforming corporate governance. Over the last 30 years, corporate profits have surged while the portion shared with labor has declined, resulting in…
Deutsche Boerse to buy 80% of ISS for $1.8 billion | Reuters
The German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE said on Tuesday it would acquire an 80% stake in Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) for about $1.8 billion, the latest in a flurry of deals to sweep across the exchange industry. Deutsche Boerse to buy 80% of ISS for $1.8 billion | Reuters
Business Support for Science-Based Climate Policy Seen as Critical to Rein in Climate Change
As President-elect Biden makes clear that tackling climate change will be at the fore front of his administration’s agenda, investors and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) are announcing the launch of a new initiative designed to enlist the support of business in this endeavor. In recognition of the enormous power and…
How FTI Consulting Drove Influence Campaigns Nationwide for Big Oil – The New York Times
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times wrote a devastating expose of the tactics used by FTI Consulting on behalf of its fossil fuel company clients, including dark money-funded fake front groups, fake “news” organizations, even a fake Facebook profile of a woman who loved farmers markets and ice cream, which they used to monitor…
CalPERS Is Voting Against Directors Over Compensation – Will Others Follow? – Corporate Board Member
The $410 billion California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is sending a message to members of corporate boards: find a way to better align executive pay with performance or have your re-election to the board opposed at the annual meeting. CalPERS Is Voting Against Directors Over Compensation – Will Others Follow? – Corporate Board Member…
It’s Not What You Look at that Matters: It’s What You See, Revealing ESG in Critical Audit Matters
PCAOB Board member J. Robert Brown, Jr. spoke to ICGN about audit disclosures and ESG. An excerpt (footnotes omitted): I’m guessing that when you think about Environmental, Social and Governance or ESG disclosure, audit regulators are not usually top of mind. Today, though, I want to share some thoughts about why they should be. The…
The Evolution of ESG Factors in Credit Risk Assessment | S&P Global Market Intelligence
The inclusion of ESG in credit risk analysis became a recognized international best practice in 2016 when the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) launched the ESG in Credit Risk and Ratings Initiative with the aim of enhancing the transparent and systematic integration of ESG factors in these assessments. Today there is increasing evidence that ESG…
San Francisco voters approve taxes on CEOs, big businesses
In an effort to address economic disparity laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved several tax measures targeting property owners and big businesses with CEOs paid far higher than their average workers. Under the new law, any company whose top executive earns 100 times more than their average worker will pay…
U.N. envoy Carney backs annual investor votes on company climate plans | Reuters
U.N. climate envoy Mark Carney on Monday backed a push by investors to force companies to submit their climate change strategies to annual shareholder votes, saying such a mechanism could improve oversight of pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Carney, who took a U.N. climate finance role after stepping down as Bank of England governor…
Former Kodak executives given millions in stock for options they did not own | Financial Times
Eastman Kodak handed five former executives stock worth millions of dollars this July in exchange for options they did not own, raising questions about the company’s controls just months after a proposed $765m loan from the Trump administration put it in the limelight. The company said internal “deficiencies” allowed five former officers and employees to…
