December 10 2007

More on Australian corporate governance, this one regarding new ideas to increase boards’ accountability to their shareholders. US company Honeywell proposes an amendment to their charter which would allow major shareholders to call special shareholder meetings. On how “an Enron-type expose” could help Asian markets. “Throw the bums out”: as proxy access by US shareholders to control director nomination appears quashed by a SEC decision made last month, majority voting is touted as a more practical alternative.

On the effects of a 2003 requirement that Norwegian companies must have a certain number of women on their boards– the object being women ultimately holding 40% of the nation’s directorships: “As of early December, women now occupy nearly 35% of the seats at the roughly 500 companies covered by the law, up from nearly 7% in 2002.”

Low corporate governance standards cited as a reason why some foreign agencies may be blocked from Canadian investment. More on this from Report on Business. On China’s new foreign investment potential. TELUS awarded “Overall Award of Excellence for Corporate Reporting” from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. The merger of the Toronto and Montreal Stock Exchanges has formed “TMX”.

The National Post anticipates Conrad Black’s sentencing, questioning whether the judge will use sentencing guidelines from 2000 when the crime was committed, or 2007 guidelines which are much more stringent. Black: “It has been my honour to show the shortcomings of the plea bargain system and the shortcomings of the corporate governance zealots.” More from The Canadian Press, Report on Business, The Toronto Star.

December 4 2007

A new survey by Spencer Stuart shows that as director compensation continues its steady increase, director share ownership is higher than what is required under current guidelines. Janet McFarland discusses the survey results. “Boards typically ask directors to own shares worth three times the value of their annual retainers. The review found, however, that a typical director with five years of service far exceeds the rules, holding three times more shares than required.”

A look at Director Independence in Germany, particularly in regards to Supervisory Boards within the country’s two tiered board system in light of recent oustings of CEOs at well performing German companies Siemens, VW and RWE.

A call for the establishment of Director Assessment Processes in Britain where “new research… shows that a quarter of FTSE 100 chairmen have little relevant experience of the industry in which they work”. Suggested that this could be a reason for poor share price performance. More on that here: “It’s not exactly a shock that a board advisory firm thinks boards should take more external advice. But most boardrooms remain fairly mysterious places, so improving accountability and transparency can only be a good thing.”

On the ownership of proxy agencies. On the importance of corporate governance of Kenya, whose Capital Markets Authority has disclosed that listed companies are not adhering to corporate governance guidelines. Mining companies’ poor corporate governance in Australia. Also from Australia, poor corporate governance standards for mid-cap firms revealed. On environmental sustainability as a corporate governance issue.

David Wilson, Chair of the OSC, profiled in The Toronto Star. And a “frank” interview with Claude Lamoureux in which the retired CEO of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan “pulls no punches.”