BRT’s Stakeholder Capitalism Exposed Lucian Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, ‘Stakeholder’ Capitalism Seems Mostly for Show. “If CEOs really intended to amend their companies’ purpose, they’d at least consult their boards first.” In an email with a link to the op-ed and the study upon which it is based, Bebchuk […]
The following extensive comments were submitted by William Lazonick, president of the Academic-Industry Research Network and UMass professor of economics emeritus, in response to my review of Predatory Value Extraction. This is dialogue a reviewer can only dream of, especially after already recieving a response from co-auther Jang-Sup Shin. More such exchanges with Shin, Lazonick, and others interested in […]
GPW (Global Proxy Watch) discussed selected comments from investors to the SEC concerning two proposed rules in an article entitled Blowback, reproduced below with permission. GPW normally runs two pages, summarzing weekly developments on governance and stewardship from Stephen Davis and Aaron Bernstein. Blowback took almost a page. (more…)
Jill Fisch, et al. addresses a central myth around index funds and investors in Passive Investors (June 29, 2018). Her research has implications applicable to recent analysis and recommendations by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr., Professor Lucian Bebchuk and others. The following is the central highlight: Our key insight is that although […]
Lucian Bebchuk has given more thought to the issues surrounding the Big Three Index Funds than other researchers. He and Scott Hirst recently provide a “comprehensive theoretical, empirical, and policy analysis of index fund stewardship.” Reference also Strine: Big 4 Responsible to “Forced Capitalists,” as well as The Untenable Case for Keeping Investors in the Dark by […]
This the third part of my coverage of this year’s ICGN event in Boston. These posts haven’t been checked for accuracy and I haven’t taken the time to edit the prose to make complete well-flowing sentences. Still, I hope you find them of some value. Morning keynote on Differential Voting Rights: Corporate governance and investor protection in […]
Now that proxy season is finally winding down, I had a few minutes to take a quick glance at recent research reported on SSRN. Below I am simply including a few citations and abstracts of studies that might be useful for shareholder advocates in the U.S. I’m sure I included some that are strictly academic […]
The Manhattan Institute‘s Proxy Monitor Project would call it another failure by gadfly shareholders, since Visa Inc. (V) filed a no-action request with the SEC and is very likely to receive the go-ahead to exclude our Simple Majority proposal from their proxy. If that happens, there is no way it will receive a majority vote […]
I missed this bit of news until I read it in a 1/28/2014 PIRC Alerts from the UK. Corporate political donations remain a hot topic even though the SEC dropped it from its 2014 priority rulemakings. As I recall, it was the subject of the most proxy proposals last year. (more…)
Guest post from Peter Tunjic – Commercial lawyer, idea inventor, framework builder, business designer, board advisor and advocate and defender of free corporations. Peter writes at On Directorship and is “re-inventing the boardroom from capitalism’s forgotten first principles.” Thanks to Peter for permission to republish his following thought provoking post. Comments are always welcome but must come to me by […]
Two seminal research papers have won the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute’s (IRRCi) prestigious annual researchcompetition focused on the interaction of the real economy with investment theory. One research paper highlights the financial market’s ability to learn the value of corporate governance, and the second explores evolving fiduciary responsibilities resulting from the need for long-term value creation. IRRCi Chair Linda […]
This guest post by Lucian Bebchuk originally appeared on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation on April 9, 2013 as Wachtell Lipton Was Wrong About the Shareholder Rights Project and is reproduced here with Professor Bebchuk’s permission. Martin Lipton quickly rebutted in a post entitled A Reply to Professor Bebchuk. The Shareholder Rights Project (SRP) is […]
More than $6 billion was spent on this year’s presidential/congressional elections, too much of it by unknown sources. Are your companies opposing candidates you support or supporting those you oppose? If so, do those contributions add to the value of your companies? If they don’t disclose the expenditure, how would you ever know? Sick of […]
Madame Colette Neuville received the prestigious ICGN Life-time Achievement Award in Corporate Governance at its Annual Conference. Madame Neuville, known as a stark defender of minority shareholder rights in France for the last 20 years, is recognised for her defence in cases such Vivendi vs Havas in 1998, Schneider vs Legrand in 2001 and Renault […]