Reporting Archive

Reporting

SEC denies J&J request to exclude racial-audit proposal

Feb 22, 2021
Ben Maiden
SEC denies J&J request to exclude racial-audit proposal
The SEC has rejected a request from Johnson & Johnson that it exclude from its proxy statement a shareholder proposal that it conduct a ‘civil rights audit.’ Trillium Asset Management, on behalf of Christopher and Anne Ellinger, has submitted the measure requesting that Johnson & Johnson ‘conduct and publish a third-party audit… to review its corporate policies, practices, products and services, above and beyond legal and regulatory matters; to asses...
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Reporting

How performance-based pay can drive up executive compensation: A Japan case study

Feb 17, 2021
Garnet Roach
How performance-based pay can drive up executive compensation: A Japan case study
An increasing focus on performance-based pay and long-term incentives is driving up CEO salaries in Japan. In fiscal year 2019 alone, CEOs saw total pay jump by a huge 20.5 percent, according to a study by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) published at the end of last year. This was, say the study authors, ‘driven by a significant expansion of long-term incentives’ in Japanese pay structures. It also represents a huge jump on the 3.3 percent rise the year before. ...
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Reporting

All eyes on sustainability this earnings season

Jan 20, 2021
Audra Delport
Fraser Lundie
All eyes on sustainability this earnings season
Our dedicated commitment to sustainable wealth creation means we are busy forming not only financial expectations for the upcoming earnings season, but also for ESG expectations. As the world increasingly mobilizes to tackle climate change, we continue to encourage our invested companies to implement sustainable business practices. We expect efforts to relay climate ambitions, such as communication of carbon-neutrality targets, to be prominently addressed and we will be pl...
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Reporting

Pursuing a higher standard of proxy statement

Dec 30, 2020
Ben Ashwell
Pursuing a higher standard of proxy statement
The legal team at Coeur Mining is proud of the evolution its proxy statement has gone through since 2015. Last year the company won the best proxy statement award in the small-cap category, and this year it takes home the same award in the mid-cap category. In recent years, Coeur’s proxy statement has been emblazoned with the firm's mission statement on ...
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Reporting

Bolstering ESG in the proxy

Dec 29, 2020
Ben Ashwell
Bolstering ESG in the proxy
At Nasdaq, the proxy statement is produced internally by a cross-functional working group whose members all have additional jobs to do. This team includes representatives from investor relations, internal audit, legal, the corporate secretary and the design team. It’s all the more impressive, then, that Nasdaq’s 2020 proxy statement has been judged 'best in class'. Erika Moore, Nasdaq’s assistant general counsel, says it takes the working group about six month...
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Reporting

From Covid-19 to BLM and the US election: 2020 in charts

Dec 23, 2020
Garnet Roach
From Covid-19 to BLM and the US election: 2020 in charts
This year will primarily be remembered for the coronavirus pandemic that grounded the world – and that continues as we enter 2021, though a number of vaccines hopefully shine light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel. But that’s not all that marked 2020. A turbulent year, with Black Lives Matter protests across the US sparked by the killing of George Floyd in May and record voter turnout at the US election – not to mention the ups and downs and uncertainty of th...
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Reporting

Expect move toward assurance of ESG disclosures, experts say

Dec 15, 2020
Ben Ashwell
Expect move toward assurance of ESG disclosures, experts say
As investor demand for ESG information continues to increase, a group of ESG experts believe pressure will build on issuers to seek third-party assurance for ESG disclosures in the near future. Third-party assurance has been a talking point for the last two years at the ESG Integration Forum – US, hosted by IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary. At both forums, audience members have expressed trepidation about seeking third-party assurance, with common conc...
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Reporting

What to do if an inaccurate or misleading story is published about your company

Dec 15, 2020
Ben Ashwell
What to do if an inaccurate or misleading story is published about your company
Erik Randerson, vice president of investor relations at Revolve, says: I won’t hesitate to request a correction when I see inaccurate information published on my employer. My experience is that outlets truly want to get it right and when presented with the facts will update their articles accordingly. For instance, a recent article on my employer, Revolve, referenced inaccurate metrics. The journalist (who I knew from a prior life) appreciated me...
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Reporting

Comment: Take care when considering buybacks

Dec 02, 2020
Allen He
Sarah Keohane Williamson
Comment: Take care when considering buybacks
Buybacks have undergone a meteoric rise since the turn of the 21st century, overtaking dividends as the preferred means to return capital to shareholders in many countries. In 2019 alone, firms spent more than $1.2 tn globally on buybacks. Buybacks are controversial, however, with academics, practitioners and politicians all maligning their use. At its most basic level, buying back shares can be a technical capital allocation tool and an attractive alternative to di...
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