Opinion: Business to Blame for Anti-Business Mood, Marty Robins, Special to AOL News, 7/8/10. Where management was utterly disengaged from the business at hand, is it any wonder the public, and lawmakers, are demanding more regulation of the economy… resistance to good-faith efforts to improve governance by bolstering management oversight doesn’t endear business to society. […]
Tag Archives | proxy access
Directors Elected Through Proxy Access
James McRitchie, July 1, 2010 ,
With the enactment of the financial regulation bill with its drastic improvement in proxy access terms appearing imminent, it is important to reflect on how corporate governance devotees need to respond. Specifically, we need to acknowledge that enhanced access is only one step –albeit a huge step – of the journey toward better governance, and […]
Proxy Access Update
James McRitchie, June 28, 2010 ,
A recent report from the Altman Group provides the best short update on proxy access that I have seen. They recommend to clients that “the Rubicon has been crossed. It is time for companies to start thinking about conducting over coming months detailed Governance Risk Assessments examining the challenges that are likely to be presented […]
Access is Back, Majority Vote to be Battled Company by Company
James McRitchie, June 25, 2010 ,
Lawmakers Reach Deal on Proxy Access by Ted Allen on June 25, 2010 12:03 AM. “In the end, the lawmakers essentially went back to where they started and will allow the SEC to hash out the many thorny issues related to proxy access.” “The SEC’s current draft rule, which was issued last June, calls for […]
House "Compromise" on Proxy Access
James McRitchie, June 24, 2010 ,
Thanks to Ted Allen of Risk Metrics for his continuing coverage of the financial reform legislation. (House Lawmakers Propose Compromise on Proxy Access, 6/24/10) Today he reports that, as expected Rep. Barney Frank said House lawmakers won’t support Senator Dodd’s proposal to impose a 5% ownership threshold and a two-year holding period on investors who […]
Manifest's e-mail to Valerie Jarrett
James McRitchie, June 21, 2010 ,
June 17, 2010 to Jarrettpublic@who.eop.gov Good morning Ms Jarrett; My name is Sarah Wilson, I am CEO of Manifest, a European proxy voting agency based in the United Kingdom. We act on behalf of a range of international investors ranging in size from small public pension funds to major European Sovereign Wealth Funds, in total […]
Proxy Access: Monday AM
James McRitchie, June 21, 2010 ,
The Huffington Post appears to have the latest coverage, White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay, 6/17/10. I watched the televised Conference Committee where Chuck Schumer failed (on a vote of 4 to 8) to delete Dodd’s amendment that basically guts proxy access by limiting it to one 5% shareowner, an impossibly high […]
CII Adds Voice to Outrage re Gutting of Proxy Access
James McRitchie, June 17, 2010 ,
The Council of Institutional Investors sent out an alert today, which reads in part as follows: All Council members opposed to the Senate’s proposed 5% ownership requirement for proxy access are strongly encouraged to call and email White House advisor Valerie Jarrett TODAY. As a senior advisor to President Obama, Jarrett has significant influence over […]
I Think I'm Going to be Sick: Obama and Proxy Access
James McRitchie, June 17, 2010 ,
According to the Hufffington Post (White House Guts Reform To Protect CEO Pay, 6/17/10), the White House is behind the latest move to kill proxy access at the request of the Business Roundtable. When questioned on the issue, a White House spokesperson responded: “It was not part of our original proposals, and we have not […]
Conference Committee Threatens Proxy Access
James McRitchie, June 17, 2010 ,
According to the latest update from the Social Investment Forum conferees are meeting now to discuss the 5% proxy access provision the Senate offered yesterday. This is a “backroom” maneuver, given that this provision is not in EITHER the House or Senate bill, and CII, SIF and Americans for Financial Reform, among others, strongly opposes […]
CEOs Running Scared in Washington
James McRitchie, May 14, 2010 ,
Businesses have intensified their efforts to kill the “proxy access” provision of the Senate’s financial regulation bill. Forty CEOs lobbied in Washington, DC last week alone. “This is our highest priority,” said John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, which represents 170 chief executives. Last week alone, Castellani said, 40 chief executives were in town visiting […]
Stanford Rock Center Proxy Access Forum
James McRitchie, May 7, 2010 ,
The Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University has quickly emerged as a focal point for conferences and seminars, research, and the development of new educational and course materials. The May 6th Proxy Access Forum was the latest iteration of the fine work being done at the Center. My disclaimer: […]
Rock Center Proxy Access Forum
James McRitchie, May 5, 2010 ,
The Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University is hosting a panel discussion on May 6th with SEC Commissioner Troy A. Paredes and relevant constituencies to discuss the SEC’s proxy access proposal and how it will play out. A summary of the SEC proposal, highlighting the principal controversies raised by various commentators and interest groups, and prepared […]
Parallel Universes Undercuts its Own Arguments
James McRitchie, April 16, 2010 ,
In his article The Parallel Universes of Institutional Investing and Institutional Voting, Charles M. Nathan appears to pine for the days when institutional investors took the “Wall Street Walk” if they disagreed with management on governance issues. T. Boone Pickens Jr’s response to that perspective: That’s like the gardener telling the estate owner, “If you […]
Senate Banking Gets Message From Investors
James McRitchie, January 20, 2010 ,
Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs were sent a AFRtoSenateLetterJan20-2010 from signatories representing a broad coalition of investors and market participants (including the publisher of CorpGov.net) urging them to require proxy access and majority votes for director elections. We believe Congress should adopt director election reforms in two ways: […]
Proxy Access: The Letters Are In
James McRitchie, October 1, 2009 ,
The deadline was August 17th, so the comment letters on proxy access have all been filed and posted. Many are well worth reading. If you don’t see yours posted, you might want to resubmit it. TIAA-CREF, one of the more conservative shareowner activists, calls on the Commission to raise the threshold to 5% for shareowners at all […]
A Primer for Boards
James McRitchie, September 15, 2009 ,
Cornelis A. de Kluyver, an academic and practitioner with global experience, has written A Primer on Corporate Governance published by Business Expert Press. While not nearly as extensive as recent textbooks by Bob Tricker or Monks and Minow, this is a quick read that provides most of the basics for future directors and those who […]
Proxy Access
James McRitchie, August 20, 2009 ,
Les Greenberg and I petitioned the SEC for proxy access back in 2002, so we both have a longstanding interest in seeing a proposal move forward. The Council of Institutional Investors said our proposal “re-energized” the “debate over shareholder access to management proxy cards to nominate directors.” (See Equal Access – What Is It?) Of […]
July 2009 News Archives
James McRitchie, July 31, 2009 ,
Mutual Funds: Pass Through Voting? Various studies have shown that mutual funds often place their own interest in asset gathering ahead of their fiduciary duties. After studying proxy voting by US funds, Jennifer S. Taub (of UMass) concludes one option might be to “borrow from British reforms by creating a uniform set of best practices […]
Proxy Access and Hybrid Boards
James McRitchie, May 21, 2009 ,
The Chamber of Commerce opposes the SEC’s proposals on proxy access, claiming that such decisions reside within individual states. “No compelling reason exists to overturn the long-standing state law role in controlling the substantive rules regarding director election,” wrote the Chamber’s Richard Murray in a letter to Schapiro. “Pursuit of a federal right to access […]
Support Petition to Keep Blank Votes Blank
James McRitchie, May 20, 2009 ,
This morning, the SEC held a hearing on proxy access. By a three to two vote, Commissioners voted for proxy access. Democracy in corporate governance will dramatically improve with our right to nominate and elect directors, even if limited to 25% of the board. Directors may actually begin to feel dependent on the will of […]
February 2009 Special News Supplement: Corporate Governance Roundup 2009
James McRitchie, February 27, 2009 ,
Yippee-i-o-ki-ay! From the conference flyer, I half expected Will Pryor, Director of the IAFF Local 1014 and conference “go-to” guy, to show up in chaps, especially with his e-mail encouraging attendees to dress casually. Well, maybe next year. Suits and jackets prevailed in the fashion arena but there was little in the way of pretense […]
Archived News From December 2007
James McRitchie, December 30, 2007 ,
Corpocracy and How to Get Our Democracy Back
James McRitchie, December 15, 2007 ,
One book on corporate governance made Ralph Nader’s list of Nine Books That Make a Difference: A Reading List for the Holidays. Here’s his brief review: Corpocracy by Robert A.G. Monks (Wiley Publishers) summarizes its main theme on the book’s cover-“How CEOs and the Business Roundtable Hijacked the World’s Greatest Wealth Machine-and How to Get […]
News Archives: October 2007
James McRitchie, October 30, 2007 ,
Archives: December 2002
James McRitchie, December 30, 2002 ,
October 2002
James McRitchie, October 30, 2002 ,
Webster Named The US Securities and Exchange Commission voted to approve five members of a new national accounting oversight board to be headed by ex-FBI-CIA chief William Webster whose only experience in accounting, as far as we know, was heading the auditing committee of U.S. Technologies, now bankrupt and facing fraud accusations. Shortly before Webster […]