Skip to content

25 March, 2023

Subscribe Advertise About Us
  • My Account
  • Register
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
    • Categories

      • View All
      • Board Moves
    • Mars ESG

      News round-up: this week in governance

      Mars CEO defends ESG and purpose; US president vetoes anti-ESG bill; trust can negatively affect...

    • ChatGPT technology Could ChatGPT technology join the board?

      Although governance may stop artificial intelligence replacing anyone on the board today, AI may soon...

    • ethical decision-making Call for FTSE 100 companies to give guidance on ethics

      Most top firms have a published code of ethics, but many lack the framework to...

  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • data decision

      How to boost decision making

      Innovative digital tools can help boards to deliver against strategic objectives, but it is the...

    • remote working

      Navigating the new world of work

      Firms need to focus on building an inclusive environment and a culture of trust to...

    • digital transformation

      Digital transformation: Get the basics right

      Board involvement at the get-go will boost the chances of a successful digital transformation for...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • uncertainty in 2023

      Being a CEO in 2023: how to navigate uncertainty

      Agility, planning in the shorter term and bravery will all stand chief executives in good...

    • A week of business moving to the centre of human rights

      A week of events signals the initiatives underway to have companies play a central role...

    • audit reform IIA Why we need audit reform right now

      There is an "urgent need" for reform to the audit landscape as well as internal...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • life sciences podcast Reform of NHS levy ‘harms UK competitiveness’

      Boards in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector face increasingly difficult decisions, according to a...

    • Board priorities 2023 Board priorities 2023: tact, trust and transparency

      We asked key figures what would help boards this year. The answers ranged from 'smarter...

    • Group of investors/shareholders in glass building Climate issues likely to figure prominently at next year’s AGMs

      A recent webinar heard that say-on-climate voting is expected to rise, while ESG remains a...

  • Careers
      • View all
      • Selection
      • Board Moves
    • female ceo Less than a third of FTSE 100 executives are women

      In Europe as a whole, only 7.7% of top companies’ chief executives are female, gender...

    • board size Performance declines as boards grow in size

      Researchers found that investment dropped by 2-3 percentage points as companies passed from 12 to...

    • Silicon Valley governance Silicon Valley improves its governance

      Big technology companies are stealing a march over other top corporates when it comes to...

  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Corporate & Advisory Services
    • Diligent report

      Forrester: The Total Economic Impact Of Diligent Board & Leadership Collaboration

      Diligent Board Leadership & Collaboration reduced the risk of confidential material loss, supported decision-making, and...

    • Gender diversity barometer

      Barometer of Gender Diversity in Governing Bodies in Europe

      The 2023 Barometer of Gender Diversity in Governing Bodies in Europe looks at the 16...

    • geopolitical risk airmic

      Navigating geopolitical risk

      Today, the future feels less secure, and optimism is more restrained. Taking decisions in an...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Selection
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

News round-up: this week in governance

by Gavin Hinks on March 31, 2022

ICGN predicts action on money laundering; overconfident CFOs ‘deter activists’; US climate debate continues; Intel boss pay ratio revealed.

Money laundering dollars on washing line

Image: Andrii Spy_k/Shutterstock.com

‘Political will’ on money laundering

As the invasion of Ukraine continues, law enforcement agencies around the world may refocus their attention on money laundering as part of sanction efforts against Russian individuals and businesses. The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) has issued a paper helping money managers engage with boards on money laundering.

ICGN says action on money-laundering programmes is an “opportunity to restore trust and reassert the value of a peaceful economic order”. It adds 2022 will be a test for anti-money-laundering programmes because they are “often viewed as an obstacle to making money”.

ICGN says: “We can imagine that given the war in Ukraine seizure of criminal assets this year may break records. If true, we can surmise that what has been lacking is not policies, programmes or staff; rather, it has been political will.”

CFO overconfidence ‘averts activist investors’

Could an executive’s behaviour prompt action by shareholder activists? A team of researchers looking at how activists target companies conclude that chief financial officer “overconfidence” may be key.

Using long-held executives stock options as a proxy for overconfidence, a research team from Germany and Canada looked at filings made by CFOs and found that “having an overconfident CFO significantly decreases the likelihood of a shareholder activist investment”.

Companies that hired “non-confident” CFOs “are more likely to be targeted by shareholder activists than their peers that remained with an overconfident CFO”.

SEC climate proposals provoke debate

Last week’s publication of proposals by SEC regulators for mandatory climate risk reporting in the US has added to a debate that was well under way. One opposition voice was that of SEC commissioner Hester Peirce who claimed the measures would “turn the disclosure regime on its head” and would mean the SEC “doing the bidding of an barrage of non-investor stakeholders”.

A response came from George Georgiev, a professor at Emory University, who picks apart Peirce’s argument for the Oxford University governance blog and concludes that the proposals are “fairly standard” and would “bring to light the effects of climate change on firm valuations in the real economy”.

He adds: “As for the considerable amounts of energy being expended in opposing the climate disclosure proposals… this energy would be better directed at solving real economic problems—or simply conserved.”

Intel CEO pay ratio revealed

Intel Corp chief executive Pat Gelsinger made headlines across the world this week for earning 1,711 times the average US salary. The information was contained in a regulatory filing and will shock many when compared with the ratio of 217:1 for the pay of Bob Swan, Intel’s previous CEO.

Gelsinger also trumps the pay ratio of Tim Cook, CEO at Apple, who earns 1,447 times the average US salary.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • News round-up: this week in governance
    January 28, 2022

    Aviva issues climate warning; FRC seeks stakeholder insights; Unilever fights back; AI reporting needs improvement; and UK firms lead on ESG.

  • News round-up: this week in governance
    October 29, 2021

    Breaking things vs fixing things; BlackRock and proxy voting; THG governance changes; warning over "tricky" TCFD scenarios.

  • News round-up: this week in governance
    February 25, 2022
    McDonald's sign

    Investors will be "assertive" in 2022; Carl Icahn fights for animal rights at McDonald's; and childhoods spent in nature make greener CEOs.

  • News round-up: this week in governance
    April 14, 2022
    Deloitte and Go-Ahead logos

    FRC to investigate Deloitte over Go-Ahead audit; Reckitt transfers its Russian business; and Peloton faces "governance issues".

For thoughtful journalism, expert insights on corporate governance and an extensive library of reports, guides and tools to help boards and directors navigate the complexities of their roles, subscribe to Board Agenda

activist investors, anti-money laundering, Apple, CEO pay, CFOs, climate risk reporting, corporate governance, ICGN, Intel, pay ratios, SEC, This week in governance, Ukraine

Search


Sign up to our Newsletter

Receive independent news, thoughtful journalism & expert insights about leadership, corporate governance & key boardroom issues straight to your inbox every week.

SIGN UP

Follow Us

 

 

 

 

Most Popular

  • Could ChatGPT technology join the board?
  • Larry Fink puts focus on finance and inflation
  • ESG resilience requires leaders to manage without certainty
  • Call for FTSE 100 companies to give guidance on ethics
  • Into the mind of white-collar criminals

Featured Partner Profile

Diligent

Diligent

Diligent Corporation, which was founded in 2001, is headquartered in New York, NY with a European HQ in London. Diligent’s modern governance platform empowers leaders and teams at every level of the organisation to digitally transform and create ...

Featured Partner Resources

2022 AGM Season Forecast: An Eye on The Horizon

To help prepare for AGMs in 2022, Equiniti (EQ) hi...

Stakeholder Engagement: A Roadmap for UK Plc Boards

This guide aims to provide directors and their col...

Digital Boards: How Technology Adoption is Driving Culture Change and Resiliency

Digital tools proved their worth to boards during ...
Leadership in AI report

Leadership in AI

This report from Board Agenda and Mazars, in assoc...
Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

In the uncertain times at the height of any crisis...
Board Directors Guide to D&O Liability Insurance - November 2020 - AIG & Board Agenda

Board Directors' Guide to D&O Liability Insurance

Directors face liability over a range of new threa...
Leadership-in-Risk-Management-Board-Report

Leadership in Risk Management: Board Report

Board Agenda, in association with Mazars and INSEA...
Director's Guide to Internal Investigations

A Director's Guide to Conducting Internal Investigations

An internal investigation must be handled meticulo...

 


 

ADVERTISE – FREE CORPORATE LISTING

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
ADD

ADVERTISE – PROMOTE YOUR REPORTS & WHITEPAPERS

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
Add Resource

Register Free

Register to receive free article views, selected resource downloads, and all the latest news alerts straight to your inbox. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Corporate & Advisory Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Sitemap
|