By Kyle Whisler, Takeover Defense Analyst At its annual meeting of shareholders last week, the board of CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH) sank to a new low, explicitly demonstrating that the company has little interest in the rights of their shareholders. For the past few months, the company has been involved in a tumultuous takeover fight [...]
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Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, 5.17.2013
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 27 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download the full Event Summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF); H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (STO:HM B); Inditex SA (MCE:ITX); PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH); [...]
The Future of Fraud Detection
By Lev Janashvili Fundamental investment analysis typically assumes the reliability of corporate financial reports. But a growing body of empirical research characterizes this assumption as dangerously naïve, especially for investment portfolios pegged to broad market indices. In How Pervasive is Corporate Fraud? (February 22, 2013), researchers at the University of Toronto and University of Chicago [...]
Event Alerts for Responsible Investors
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 22 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download the full event summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (ETR:BMW) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Anglo American Platinum Ltd (JNB:AMS) Enbridge Inc (TSE:ENB) adidas AG (ETR:ADS - US Listed) EPL Oil [...]
Berlusconi Casts Shadow Over New Government
By Stefan Borghi, Research Analyst On April 27, two months after initial elections, Italy finally formed a new government, ending a long political stalemate that threatened to deepen the country’s financial woes. The new government is a coalition formed by new Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which unites Letta’s center-left Democratic Party with Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right [...]
Quantifying what is qualitative and vice versa
This interview with GMI Ratings’ Ric Marshall was recorded during ESG Europe 2012 conference, held in Amsterdam, October 2012, organized by the Responsible Investor. “Quantifying what is qualitative and vice versa”, fsinsight.org, May 6, 2013.
The Cost of a False Freedom
By Lev Janashvili A Review of Citizens DisUnited by Robert AG Monks It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone if the typical reader of the financial press has formed the impression that we as a culture have essentially done what we needed to do about corporate governance. We used to ignore it, now we talk about it. [...]
Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, 5.3.13
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 18 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download the full Event Summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) Tenet Healthcare Corp (NYSE:THC) NII Holdings, Inc. (NASD:NIHD) Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASD:BOBE) Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Royal Bank of Scotland Group [...]
GMI Ratings’ Women on Boards Survey Finds Legislation Major Driver of Change; Countries without Mandates Lag
New York – May 1, 2013 – GMI Ratings released today its annual report on Women on Boards. Based on data for almost 6,000 companies in 45 countries, and including historical data, the survey provides a broad and detailed assessment of global progress on gender diversity among corporate directors. The survey finds extremely slow progress [...]
GMI Ratings’ 2013 Women on Boards Survey
Summary of Findings Based on data for almost 6,000 companies in 45 countries, GMI Ratings’ 2013 Women on Boards survey provides a broad and detailed assessment of global progress on gender diversity among corporate directors. The survey finds extremely slow progress, largely due to countries without legal mandates for the representation of women on corporate [...]
Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, 4.26.13
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 19 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download the full Event Summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX) Olam International Ltd (SIN:O32) Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE:LNT) AstraZeneca plc (LON:AZN) Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) The Timken [...]
The New York Times: After Rough Year, Con Ed Chiefs Get Extra Bonuses for ‘Exemplary’ Work
…Con Edison’s executive-pay practices had already earned the company low marks from monitors of corporate boards. GMI Ratings gave the company a grade of “D,” citing it for, among other flaws, having over half of its directors on the board for more than 10 years and three of them for two decades.
Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, 4.12.13
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 22 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download the full event summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL) Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (AMS:PHIA [...]
Key Metrics Series: Internal Pay Equity
Companies that pay their CEOs much more than their other named executive officers (NEOs) may be overpaying for their Chief Executive. Alternatively, they may be exposed to key person risk if the CEO’s contributions actually merit much higher compensation than what is awarded the other NEOs. Academic research also suggests that companies where CEOs earn [...]
The D&O Diary: Cornerstone Research: Securities Suits Involving Accounting Allegations Less Likely to Be Dismissed, Costlier to Settle
Securities class action lawsuits involving accounting allegations are less likely to be dismissed, take longer to resolve, and make up a much greater proportion of total securities suit settlement dollars than non-accounting cases, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research….
Key Metrics Series: Board Attendance Failures
Director attendance is often viewed as an important indicator of the quality of board oversight. Indeed, many institutional investors’ proxy voting guidelines recommend withholding support from directors who fail attendance standards. GMI Ratings’ Board Attendance Failures metric flags companies where at least one director has failed attendance standards in the most recent proxy year.
Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, 4.5.13
In this week’s Event Alerts for Responsible Investors, we included 21 companies whose ESG and accounting risk profiles have been affected by recent events. Download full event summary. Companies Environmental Social Governance Accounting Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) SSE PLC (LON:SSE) AMCOL International Corporation (NYSE:ACO) Deutsche Bank AG (ETR:DBK) Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX) Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BIT:BMPS) Diodes Incorporated (NASD:DIOD) [...]