News is breaking today that the United States government has slapped a suit against Johnson & Johnson and two of its subsidiaries for allegedly paying kickbacks to nursing homes in an effort to boost sale for a new antipsychotic drug.
Recently, our friends at McCuistion hosted a roundtable discussion centered on the government’s response to the corporate governance crisis that we’ve seen in recent years. Hosted, as always, by Dennis McCuistion, the panel discussion included Edward Durkin, Francis Byrd, and Robert Royer.
Executive compensation, previously the domain of boards and shareholders, is now under greater governmental control. Yesterday, the U.S. government announced aggressive regulations on executive compensation at banks and Wall Street firms.
A report today at Bloomberg.com by Ian Katz and Bradley Keoun discusses the probability that the U.S. government’s influence in the recent board shakeup at Citigroup could be a sign of things to come for Corporate America. The government’s involvement in many of the nation’s biggest companies certainly raises a bevy of questions regarding influence, corporate governance, and potential conflicts of interest.
