Governance

ESG-driven initiatives in the corporate sector continue to expand. In response, controversial policy proposals are gaining traction in statehouses around the country, along with the newly formed Anti-ESG Alliance, a collection of 19 states pledged to protect their constituents from what the group calls a radical movement. And yet, for several states in the alliance, the drive to maintain or...

As a keystone provides integrity to an arch structure, culture infuses the shared values and attitudes that frame how an organization thinks and behaves. Culture gives each organization its particular character. Good or bad, culture is almost always at the root of all reputational and financial performance outcomes, as it is a potent source of strength or weakness for an...

Ringing the opening bell on the Nasdaq or NYSE floor represents the culmination of a long and potentially risky IPO process. Securities lawyer Megan Penick of Michelman & Robinson offers an insider’s view of what it takes to get there. For public securities lawyers like me, nothing is quite as satisfying as celebrating a company’s listing during an opening or...

What do corporate board directors see on the horizon? SPRING 2023 BOARD PULSE SURVEY Expanding Roles, Risks and Opportunities for Boards in Another Disruptive Year What's in this report from BDO: Another year of disruption and economic headwinds means formidable challenges for public company boards — but it has also opened new realms of opportunity for directors willing to adapt....

It’s in the very title of the show, so it should come as no surprise that HBO’s hit series “Succession” is about, well, a succession. Like other pop-culture depictions of transfers of power, the show is imminently watchable, but does it stand up to real corporate scrutiny? To find out, CCI’s Jennifer L. Gaskin asked a pair of experts for...

ESG creates better financial performance, mitigates legal and brand risk and increases trust. But making ESG gains is about more than improving business metrics. Joe Wilkins, a founding member of the Black Directors Health Equity Agenda, talks about how health equity lies at the center of it all. With corporate boards more attuned than ever to environmental, social and governance...

The asset management industry isn’t exactly known for diversity in its ownership ranks, and neither are the outsourced service providers firms often engage. Katie Twomey of Illumen Capital argues for diversity across the board, even in organizations without traditional supply chains. Diverse-owned firms represent just 1.4% of the $82 trillion in assets under management within the asset management industry. While...

Since it went into effect nearly a year ago, the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act illustrates how the “E” and “S” in ESG have a tendency to overlap. ESG columnist John Peiserich shares his take on this intersection and why it means compliance teams may need to create new math. Sustainability and ESG sometimes have strange bedfellows. The social...

Two weeks after C.J. Rinaldi was announced as the chief compliance officer of Kraken, the cryptocurrency platform settled SEC charges, accepted a $30 million fine and agreed to shutter its staking services in the U.S. Rinaldi is no stranger to the volatile crypto market, having served in the same role at Blockchain.com, but his new job comes at a particularly...

Despite a lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. on ESG reporting, companies are barreling ahead with disclosing a variety of related metrics. Nneoma E. Njoku, general manager of disclosure communications firm Labrador, shares her analysis of ESG disclosures by some of the world’s biggest companies to see what they reveal. Whether directly or indirectly involved in the oversight of...

Making money *and* doing the right thing Survey Report The Evolution of ESG & Impact Investing: Are You Ready? What’s in this report from JTC and OpportunityDb:Despite headlines to the contrary, investor perceptions toward ESG and impact investing continue their positive upward trajectory, though misunderstandings persist, according to a survey of nearly 300 advisers, fund managers and investors in the...

By the beginning of next year, large companies in the EU or that do a substantive amount of business in EU countries will be required to issue sustainability disclosures under new rules. ESG columnist John Peiserich sorts through the details. In mid-November 2022, the European Parliament adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a major expansion of the 2014 Non-Financial...