Category: Corporate Governance
State Department ventures into conflict minerals
by Cydney Posner Bloomberg BNA is reporting that the State Department has launched a new review of “how best to support responsible sourcing of conflict minerals,” which will continue through April 28. Although it’s not known whether the SEC is involved in the State Department’s efforts, BNA suggests that the […]
Do board self-evaluations help produce a high-functioning board?
by Cydney Posner In this paper from the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, Board Evaluations and Boardroom Dynamics, the authors suggest that board self-evaluations aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. While, based on a recent study, 89% of directors believe their boards have the skills and […]
European Parliament approves conflict minerals rules for the EU
by Cydney Posner Last week, the European Parliament approved, by a vote of 558 to 17 with 45 abstentions, new rules on conflict minerals, 3TG—tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold. Proceeds from the sale of conflict minerals, which are used in the production of products such as mobile phones, cars and […]
Just as the U.S. seeks to roll back regulations, the European Parliament adopts new corporate governance rules
by Cydney Posner Just when the U.S. is looking at how to roll back its regulations on corporations (among others) (see, e.g., this PubCo post, this PubCo post and this PubCo post), the rest of the world seems to be headed in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, the EU Parliament approved a […]
BlackRock sets its priorities for board engagement
by Cydney Posner Asset management firm BlackRock (reportedly the largest, with $5.1 trillion under management) has identified its “Investment Stewardship” priorities for 2017-2018, intended to help companies prepare for engaging with BlackRock. Among the hot topics are governance (including board composition and diversity), corporate strategy for long-term value creation in […]
SEC committee discusses multi-class common with unequal voting rights
by Cydney Posner An interesting topic of discussion at a meeting last week of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee was “unequal voting rights of common stock” — the trend over the last decade (plus) for a small number of IPO companies, particularly tech companies, to offer low-vote or, more recently, no-vote […]
State Street Global Advisors talks the talk on board gender diversity, but will it walk the walk?
by Cydney Posner Happy International Women’s Day! In this press release, State Street Global Advisors, which manages $2.47 trillion in assets, announced, on the eve of International Women’s Day, that it is “calling on the more than 3,500 companies [in which] State Street invests on behalf of clients, representing more […]
SEC continues to grant no-action relief in connection with proxy access fix-it proposals
by Cydney Posner The SEC has posted a number of additional Corp Fin responses to requests for no-action, as well as to requests for reconsideration of previous denials of relief, regarding shareholder proposals to amend proxy access bylaws, so-called “fix-it” proposals. In all cases, the companies argued that they should […]
Another theory on Corp Fin’s position on proxy access fix-it proposals
by Cydney Posner Corp Fin has refined its position with regard to exclusion of proposals to amend existing proxy access bylaws. However, the basis for the staff’s determination to grant or refuse no-action relief in that context remains a conundrum.
For the avoidance of doubt, Acting Corp Fin Director confirms conflict minerals and pay-ratio disclosure rules still in effect
Cydney Posner As reported by the WSJ, at the SEC Speaks conference today, to avoid any doubt on the matter, Acting Corp Fin Director Shelley Parratt reminded companies that, notwithstanding the two requests for public comment issued by Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar and all of the Executive Orders aimed […]
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