Category: Corporate Governance
Want to increase company performance? Increase the proportion of women in corporate leadership
by Cydney Posner So says a new study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The results suggest that the presence of women in corporate leadership positions may improve firm performance and that “the magnitudes of the correlations are not small.”
BlackRock CEO asks companies to provide board-approved strategic framework for long-term value creation
by Cydney Posner While Laurence D. Fink, co-founder and chief executive of BlackRock, has been decrying short-termism for a number of years, in his 2016 corporate governance letter to CEOs, he takes his advocacy a step further. According to this DealBook column, the letter was sent to 500 chief executives late […]
NACD governance survey reports on top board priorities, time commitment and other matters
by Cydney Posner The National Association of Corporate Directors has made available the highlights of its 2015-2016 Public Company Governance Survey of over a thousand directors and executives.
Directors overboard
by Cydney Posner Companies are paying increased attention to the potential for director “overboarding,” according to the WSJ. Many companies have adopted restrictions on the number of outside seats that directors may hold, often in response to shareholder requests. In addition, some institutional shareholders are guided in their voting by […]
Directors say: Do as I say, not as I do
by Cydney Posner According to this article in the WSJ, a forthcoming survey from accounting and consulting firm EisnerAmper LLP shows that the overwhelming majority of directors favor age and term limits, just not for themselves.
NYC Comptroller submits proxy access proposals to 72 companies for 2016
by Cydney Posner As noted in TheCorporateCounsel.net blog, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has once again submitted, on behalf of a number of NYC pension funds, a raft of shareholder proposals for proxy access as part of the Comptroller’s continuing Boardroom Accountability Project. The list of the 72 companies targeted this […]
Nasdaq survey of corporate interaction with proxy advisory firms
by Cydney Posner Nasdaq and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey of public companies to gain insight into companies’ interactions with ISS and Glass Lewis, the two primary proxy advisory firms, with regard to the 2015 proxy season. Over 155 companies of all sizes and industries participated in […]
Court dismisses case to compel SEC to act on rulemaking petition for corporate political spending disclosure
by Cydney Posner As noted in Law360, a DC District Court has granted the SEC’s motion to dismiss a complaint filed to compel the SEC to act on a rulemaking petition regarding corporate political spending disclosure. Of course, as discussed in this PubCo post, a provision prohibiting the SEC from […]
SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee takes on Nasdaq
by Cydney Posner At the January meeting of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee, two Nasdaq representatives made a presentation regarding the recent Solicitation of Comments by the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, a standing independent advisory committee, regarding some of the Nasdaq shareholder approval rules. The reaction of the […]