Boardroom Insider: Curbing Board Expenses

The April edition of Ralph Ward’s Boardroom Insider offers excellent tips on curbing board expanses. Costs of corporate governance soared after passage of Sarbanes-Oxley. While the rate of increase has now declined, governance costs continue to climb, with paperwork and incentives to hire more outside counsel and consulting advice.

Ward points out that money saved through e-proxy is more than devoured by the need to get enough investors to vote at all. Ward consulted with experts in the field, such as Kris Veaco, head of Veaco Governance Services, to provide tips with regard to budgeting board expenses, including how to estimate “unplanned” expenses and make use of gatekeepers.

Ward looks at the Diligent “BoardBooks” platform and Soundboard Review Services, as well as the question of rotating committee chairs, packing a lot into four pages.