Skip to content

24 June, 2025

  • Saved Articles
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

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

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • long-term stewardship

      Stewardship strategies

      In times of uncertainty and growing risk complexity, boards need to evolve beyond stability. Here...

    • clear cyber risk

      UK companies face a clear cyber risk

      Boards need a laser focus on digital risks—and the UK needs stronger audit, governance and...

    • public markets

      How can we boost public markets?

      Growing companies need adequate liquidity, together with smart regulation and corporate governance that is not...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • clear cyber risk

      UK companies face a clear cyber risk

      Boards need a laser focus on digital risks—and the UK needs stronger audit, governance and...

    • Warren Buffett CEO succession: what boards can learn from Warren Buffett

      The billionaire investor is handing the reins to Greg Abel, after a long, strategic succession...

    • gender pay gap Act now to close the gender pay gap

      This month, it is 55 years since the Equal Pay Act, yet pay inequality persists....

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • UK Corporate Governance Code Board meetings ‘are not up to scratch’

      Nearly three-quarters of board members believe the board’s performance in meetings needs improvement, an expert...

    • financial sanctions Tariffs chaos drives boardroom focus on resilience

      Business leaders will prioritise the resilience of their organisations in the face of economic upheaval...

    • ai boards Corporate world has a ‘huge appetite’ for artificial intelligence

      AI could change boardrooms to the extent that directors’ duties would change too, a panel...

  • Board Careers
  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
    • Korn Ferry CHRO 2025 (Copy)

      On The Highwire: Being a CHRO in 2025

      Korn Ferry surveyed 750 senior HR leaders (including 450 CHROs) to understand their key priorities...

    • Boardroom Bellwether CGI 2025 cover

      Boardroom Bellwether 2025

      Boardroom Bellwether is the annual survey by The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGIUKI),...

    • ACCA sustainability reporting 2025 cover

      Sustainability reporting: risk and materiality 2025

      ACCA’s sustainability guide takes a practical approach to helping businesses with sustainability reporting.

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Careers
    • 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
    June 1, 2022
    US flag formed out of bullets

    Gun control and ESG; CEO pay rebounds; Nelson Peltz joins Unilever board; warning to London Stock Exchange over market exits.

  • News round-up: this week in governance
    May 6, 2022
    K-pop group NCT

    UK public backs pay ratios; K-pop firm opts for independent auditor; FRC chief tipped as HS2 chair; are dual-class shares an ESG risk?

  • 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
    November 12, 2021

    Car park catch-ups; audit reform rumours; Elon Musk on Twitter; ISS seeks climate disclosures; and why married CEOs are a safer bet.

Search


Follow Us

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts – Sign up here

 

Most Popular

Featured Resources

wef global risks 2025

The Global Risks Report 2025

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report reveals an increasingly fractured global...
Supply chain management cover

Strategic Oversight in Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Corporate Boards 2025

Supply chains have become complex, interdependent and opaque and—according to research...
OB-Cyber-Security

Cyber Security: What Boards Need to Know

Maintaining firewalls, protecting servers and filtering malicious emails rarely make...

The IA’S Principles Of Remuneration 2024 2025

This guidance from the Investment Association is aimed at assisting remuneration...
Diligent 2024 leadership tech cover

Leadership, decision-making & the role of technology: Business survey 2024

This research report by Board Agenda and Diligent sheds light on how board directors...

Director Reference Guide: Navigating Conflict in the Boardroom

The 'Director Reference Guide' on navigating conflict in the boardroom provides practical...
Nasdaq 2024 governance report cover

Nasdaq 2024 Global Governance Pulse

This Nasdaq survey gathered data from more than 870 board members, executives, and...

Becoming a non-executive director (4th edition)

Board composition is the subject of much debate, while the role of the non-executive...
art & science brainloop new cover

The Art & Science of Creating an Effective Board

Boards are coming under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before from regulators,...
SAA First time NED guide

First Time Guide for Non-Executive Directors

The role of the non-executive director has never been more vital: to advise, support,...

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts. Register


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

Copyright © 2025 Questor Media Group Ltd.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap