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.
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