Guest post from Shriram Subramanian, founder of InGovern Research Services with the objective of facilitating shareholder activism by institutional investors and thereby enhancing corporate governance in India. Proxy Advisory Services, Corporate Governance Research, Risk Monitoring, and Proxy Services. India’s SEBI, through a circular dated March 24th, 2014, released a new set of disclosure guidelines to be followed by mutual funds. These […]
Archive | March, 2014
Video Friday: SEBI vs Companies Act, 2013
James McRitchie, 03/28/2014 ,
I don’t follow corporate governance in India as much as I would like but this video explains some recent reforms too important to ignore. To exhort listed companies and their top executives to follow ‘good business practices’, regulator Sebi cleared new corporate governance norms that require them to justify CEO salaries, put in place whistle-blower […]
A Conversation with People You Wish You Could Speak with Before Proxy Season
James McRitchie, 03/27/2014 ,
I joined for what was billed as a ‘fireside chat’ style presentation featuring Anne Simpson of CalPERS, Ralph Whitworth of Relational Investors, LLC, and Katherine Rabin of Glass, Lewis & Co., who will address the hot topics of this year’s proxy season. “Bring your burning questions and get the opinions of these experts.” (more…)
Moving Day: Taking Out the Founder
James McRitchie, 03/26/2014 ,
As Advertised A passionate, visionary founder has the start-up organized and funded and captured first customers, but does not have the experience (or skill set) to scale the company to a liquidity event. The need to move the founder from CEO to an executive technical position or “just” a member of the board and an […]
SRI Funds & Advisors Send Open Letters on Lawsuits Against Shareholders
James McRitchie, 03/24/2014 ,
It is wonderful to have supportive friends, especially when they represent socially responsible investors and advisors. John Chevedden, Myra K. Young and James McRitchie extend sincere thanks to the following for sending letters of concern regarding their recent lawsuits against us to: EMC Corp, Omnicom, Express Scripts, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.: (more…)
Video Friday: Quadruple Feature Thanks to CorporateAffairs.tv
James McRitchie, 03/21/2014 ,
Broc Romanek‘s CorporateAffairs.tv has started with a bang and plenty of early content in the form of brief videos that even those of us with attention deficit disorder can watch without missing a beat. Some in the ‘entertainment’ category are not so much for me. Still, it is great to see Broc and friends having […]
3 Victories in a Row for Shareowner Rights: CMG Still Bumbling
James McRitchie, 03/19/2014 ,
Thanks in large part to Phil Goldstein, long-time friend and defender of the underdog, John Chevedden, James McRitchie (me), and Myra K. Young (my wife) we were able to get a third lawsuit dismissed. Like EMC and Omnicom (OMC) before, Chipotle (CMG) had sued in court, rather than seek a no-action letter from the SEC, alleging our […]
Is Silicon Valley Different?: A Conversation with Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster
James McRitchie, 03/18/2014 ,
I attended this discussion between Professor Joe Grundfest and Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, Delaware Court of Chancery at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance on March 10, 2014. As Advertised Many Silicon Valley companies are marked by the presence of dual and triple class (more…)
Call for Papers: Disruptive Forces on Shareholders and/or Boards
James McRitchie, 03/17/2014 ,
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) have issued a call for papers that address global governance challenges. Academics and governance practitioners are invited to submit original papers focused on emerging issues and opportunities likely to impact boardrooms and/or shareholders over the next decade. (more…)
Video Friday: CorporateAffairs.tv
James McRitchie, 03/14/2014 ,
Once again, demonstrating that learning can be fun, Broc Romanek recently announced the launch of his newest site – CorporateAffairs.tv! Well before Dave Lynn & Broc dabbled in silly videos years ago, he’s wanted to build a site focusing solely on video. CorporateAffairs.tv provides free videos – all of them short in length – that fall within one of three categories: […]
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): How I Voted – Proxy Score 44
James McRitchie, 03/13/2014 ,
Starbucks Corporation $SBUX, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/19/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 3/9/2014. I voted with management 44% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
Omnicom (OMC) Group Loses to Chevedden: Shareowner Rights Preserved
James McRitchie, 03/12/2014 ,
In a memorandum and order issued yesterday, Judge Louis L. Stanton, of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled John Chevedden’s motion to dismiss is granted. Omnicom’s motion for summary judgment is denied. “The clerk is requested to enter judgment dismissing the complaint, with costs and disbursements in favor of Mr. […]
The Walt Disney Company (DIS): How I Voted – Proxy Score 60
James McRitchie, 03/11/2014 ,
The Walt Disney Company, $DIS, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/18/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 3/9/2014. I voted with management 60% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
EMC v. John Chevedden and James McRitchie: Case Dismissed
James McRitchie, 03/10/2014 ,
The chilling effect of companies bypassing the SEC’s inexpensive ‘no-action’ process may be coming to an end. Apache, Waste Connections and a growing number of companies have been successful in US district courts in Texas. Finally, we won a landmark case in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. The law can prevail, even against the weight […]
Video Friday: Director Orientation & Onboarding
James McRitchie, 03/07/2014 ,
Recommended this week. TK Kerstetter, Chairman, NYSE Governance Services – Corporate Board Member Scott Cutler, EVP, NYSE discuss Director Orientation & Onboarding on their 3/16/2014 show “This Week in the Boardroom” (more…)
Berry Plastics Group (BERY): How I Voted – Proxy Score 25
James McRitchie, 03/06/2014 ,
Berry Plastics Group $BERY is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/11/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was back up and running and had collected the votes of one fund when I checked and voted on 3/5/2014. I voted with management 25% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
Directors&Boards: Digital Advisors & Knowledge Capture
James McRitchie, 03/05/2014 ,
Directors&Boards is one of our “stakeholders.” No, that doesn’t mean they own part of us or that we own part of them and it doesn’t mean we always agree with each other. But they are included in our primary reference groups, those who contribute regularly to our “vocabulary of meaning.” The current edition begins to address […]
Review – The Nature of Corporate Governance: The Significance of National Cultural Identity
James McRitchie, 03/04/2014 ,
The Preface to this book is so powerful that I have to begin my review with the words of the authors, Janet Dine and Marios Koutsias. The thesis of this book argues that national corporate governance is extremely important for societies. Recently many scholars have said that a convergence of corporate governance is inevitable. We […]
Call for Papers: 2nd Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance
James McRitchie, 03/03/2014 ,
Submission Deadline: May 31st, 2014 Following the success of the inaugural Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance, the Geneva Finance Research Institute and the Institute For Environmental Sciences of the University of Geneva together with Sustainable Finance Geneva are pleased to announce the 2nd Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance, which will be held on November 27th, […]
Joseph A. Dear: June 7, 1951 to February 26, 2014
James McRitchie, 03/01/2014 ,
Joseph Dear, a politically savvy chief investment officer who helped steer CalPERS through the aftermath of the stock market crash and a bribery scandal, died Wednesday of prostate cancer. (CalPERS chief investment officer dies, Sacramento Bee, 2/26/2014) Joe Dear, the former head of the Washington State Investment Board and past Chief of Staff for Washington State Governor […]