How Is Your “Statement Of Corporate Purpose” Shaping Up? Two Good Sources To Check Into For Guidance…
You would not be doing all of your 2020 homework without thinking about incorporating some kind of statement about your “Corporate Purpose” into your Annual Report, following all the publicity the Business Roundtable got with its statement on the importance of having...AUDITOR RATIFICATION…THE NEXT BIG THING IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE? WE HAVE A BETTER IDEA
We have been saying for five or more years now that treating the vote on ratifying the selection of auditors as a “routine matter” is increasingly absurd, in light of the seemingly never-improving and clearly unsatisfactory number of audit failures reported each year by the PCAOB.
Hot Issues for Proxy Tabulation and Vote Reporting
Did you know that there are at least eight kinds of proxy tabulators out there these days?
PROXY FIGHTS SHRINK IN NUMBER…BUT THE INTENSITY GROWS BIG-TIME
The just-out issue of Broadridge’s Proxy Pulse newsletter reports that so far this year, proxy contests have decreased markedly vs. last.
MORE “RAZOR-THIN VOTING MARGINS” THAN EVER AT 2018 SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS
WITH “DIVERSITY” AND ESG ISSUES, AND MAYBE SAYS-ON-PAY COMING TO THE FOREFRONT, WE PREDICT MORE “RAZOR-THIN VOTING MARGINS” THAN EVER: WE EXPLAIN WHY – AND WHAT YOU NEED TO BE DOING NOW
Annual Meeting Planning – 2018
Two other sets of developments this season also give us reason to think hard as we plan for 2018:
Misguided SEC “Guidance” On No-Action Letters
And on Allowing Non-Shareholders to Submit Shareholder Proposals as “Proxies”: Time for Some Tough Talk, We Say
Ever Think About a Tied Vote?
Or Of What To Say And Do If Some Results Seem “Too Close To Call?”….Very Smart To Do These Days
Our FOUR Top Takeaways from the 2017 Annual Meeting Season
This year’s big-meeting-season brought two earthshaking changes in the overall corporate governance climate that will, we believe, alter the landscape forever. Also, there were developments on political disclosure and so-called diversity proposals that issuers should...Board Diversity: What Are You Waiting For?
by Patricia Lenkov, Founder and Principal at Agility Executive Search The burden of proof has been met. Diverse boards make better decisions that lead to improved company performance. Yet despite the research and validation and the increasing prodding by institutional...More News from the 2017 Meeting Front: The Best & Worst
BofA’S DONATIONS TO SPECIAL OLYMPICS PRODUCED BIG NEW-VOTER TURNOUT: In our last issue we singled out Bank of America’s proxy package for special mention as “required viewing.” With most of the ‘big season’ now behind us, it remains the best and most effective set of...The Hottest Proxy Issues in 2018
Q&A with Bruce H. Goldfard, President & CEO of Okapi Partners
The SSA Announced This Year’s James R. Smith Scholarship Winner – Its 12th!
An 18-year-old Connecticut high-school senior with his sights set on a career in nursing has been named the winner of the 2016 award under the James R. Smith Scholarship Program of the Shareholder Services Association.
Here’s The Optimizer’s Roadmap for Better Governance of the Corporate Cash Register – and Share Buyback Programs in Particular
This exercise requires deep thinking – and some somewhat elaborate math that needs to be ‘made simple’ for readers who are not professional economists.
Beefs On Buybacks Finally Gain Some Traction
At long last, the problems and perils of poorly-conceived and poorly executed share-buyback programs are starting to get the attention they deserve.
The Auditor “Blooper Of The Year”?
In mid-February our good buddy Broc Romanek, editor of The CorporateCounsel.net forwarded a question he got from one of his many avid readers, as follows:
Berkshire Hathaway Will Stream Its Annual Meeting Via Yahoo…YAHOO! We Say… But Add a Tiny Boo or Two Too
In last year’s wrap-up of the 2015 shareholder meeting season we predicted that more and more companies would go back to actually trying to make the meetings more inviting – and more useful to shareholders.
The Original “Shareholder Activists” and the Founders of the Modern Corporate Governance Movement
Your editor-in-chief was fortunate to have been a witness to dozens and dozens of ‘performances’ by the Gilbert brothers at shareholder meetings, where he came to know them both.
“RFP-LITE”
Goodbye and Good Riddance We Say, To Those 20+ Page RFPs with their 200-Page Responses
ADRmageddon…SEC Enforcement Subpoenas Hit The Top-4 ADR Banks: Mega-Scandals Threaten ADR Bankers – And Maybe ADRs Themselves
The SEC’s Enforcement Division has issued wide-ranging subpoenas to the four largest ADR banks - and to many of their top officials, we are told - demanding detailed information going all the way back to 1997, according to our source - the chief whistleblower, who,...BofA Aces The Referendum On A Combined Chairman/CEO
A Few Important Take-Aways For Issuers – And A Few “Shades Of The Bad Old Days” Worth Noting
Major Shockers Rock The Governance World
Big After-Shocks To Come, And A Major “Raising Of The Bars” Across The Board, We Predict… So Get Ready We love to crow about our long record of predicting “the next big thing in the corporate governance world” - but you sure don’t need a crystal ball this fall to know...Why Do A Board Assessment: By Mary Denise Kuprionis Of The Governance Solutions Group
How To Get Started, The Process And The Rewards.
The Missing Link: Individual Director Assessment, By Kristina Veaco And Cherie Sorokin Of Veaco Group
The Fast Growing Need To Assess Board Composition, Director Tenure And Individual Director Effectiveness.
