Comments for GMI Ratings

Comment on GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Forest Laboratories, Inc. by James McRitchie

James McRitchie — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:26:15 +0000

Another positive step Forest Labs could take would be to endorse the USPX Model Proxy Access Proposal submitted by Ken Steiner.

Features of the proposal:
-Precatory to afford flexibility.
-One nominee (12% of board) per nominating party.
-Nominating parties can’t coordinate nominations.
-Two alternatives to satisfy ownership requirement:
Party holding 1% of shares for 2 years, or
Party of 50 shareowners each holding $2,000 for 1 year

If these proxy access standards had been in place this year we might have seen candidates proposed by several parties and more vigorous debate on the issues.

Comment on GMI Ratings Governance Update| The Talbots, Inc. by deider

deider — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:19:29 +0000

From someone in the know, these people came in like carpetbaggers, in the true sense of the word, with the goal of making themselves wealthy. There was no loyalty to the consumer, the existing associates or the brand. The exception, of course, is Dick “Doc” O’Connell, who is a holdover from the previous regime, but who quickly joined in the money grab, taking a huge pay raise as hundreds of positions were eliminated. Now that they’ve all successfully driven this once-proud brand into the ground, they’ll take their millions and walk into the sunset. Shameful.

Comment on Investment Advice from ex-Olympus Chief Michael Woodford by Bob Smith

Bob Smith — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:16:30 +0000

You are keeping Woodfords book sales dreams alive by providing him such a platform for his ulterior motive.
That is not to say the need to drive greater transparency into Japans system of corporate governance. Many companies are ahead of the curve but many lag behind.
Training is essential for BOD and more large Japanese institutional investors need to speak up. When the Olympus crisis was peaking, they were the voice of reason .

Comment on Investment Advice from ex-Olympus Chief Michael Woodford by Nicholas Benes

Nicholas Benes — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:54:02 +0000

While I do not share his final conclusion (re “don’t invest”), I was pleased to introduce Michael Woodford to the Council of Institutional Investors at their request, so that he could relate his real-life story about what can happen in board rooms here in Japan. I was also happy to hear that his appearance seems to have been everyone’s “favorite session”, – assuming that means that it will focus investing institutions on finding their voice and helping to improve governance here.
I am hoping that large foreign institutional investors will lend concrete support to benign, government-certified organizations such as ours, – The Board Director Training Institute of Japan -, that focus on providing quality director training and educational programs about corporate governance. Training is the single most effective (and underutilized) method for removing risk and adding return to Japanese equity portfolios. Roughly 85% of directors at companies here are internally promoted executives, yet the vast majority of listed companies do not give them any significant training. Many are simply not prepared to be directors.
The “public comment” that Mr. Woodford recently submitted to the TSE refers to many things (it can be downloaded at the link below), but I think the most important is the part that refers to the need for director training:
“To meaningfully supplement these measures and restore that trust, I respectfully propose that the TSE should require all companies to disclose in their Corporate Governance Reports submitted to the TSE:
a) their corporate policies with regard to director training, both with respect to training of executive directors before nomination, and continuing education of all directors; and
b) each year, the names of the board members who received training, the number of hours the training consisted of, and the general subject matter.
Such disclosure rules would create strong incentives for companies to arrange intensive“director training” programs for their executives. If such rules had been in place, I believe that Olympus might never have started its long journey into financial fraud, or might have corrected itself far earlier.”
Mr. Woodford’s full public comment as submitted to the Tokyo Stock Exchange can be downloaded here:
http://bdti.or.jp/english/node/368
Nicholas Benes
Representative Director
The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI)
http://bdti.or.jp/english/introduction

Comment on “Shaping the Future” with the Council of Institutional Investors by Nicholas Benes

Nicholas Benes — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 02:04:43 +0000

Thank you for your summary of the spring meeting.
I was very pleased to introduce Michael Woodford to the Council of Institutional Investors at their request, so that he could give a real-life story about what can happen in board rooms here in Japan. I was equally pleased to hear that his appearance seems to have been everyone’s “favorite session.”
I am hoping that, as a result, large foreign institutional investors will see that it is in their interests to lend concrete support to organizations in Japan such as my own, BDTI, that focus on providing quality director training. This is the single most effective method for removing risk and adding return to their Japanese equity portfolios.
The “public comment” that Mr. Woodford submitted to the TSE refers to many things (it can be downloaded at the link below), but I think the most important is the part that refers to this need for director training:
“To meaningfully supplement these measures and restore that trust, I respectfully propose that the TSE should require all companies to disclose in their Corporate Governance Reports submitted to the TSE:
a) their corporate policies with regard to director training, both with respect to training of executive directors before nomination, and continuing education of all directors; and
b) each year, the names of the board members who received training, the number of hours the training consisted of, and the general subject matter.
Such disclosure rules would create strong incentives for companies to arrange intensive“director training” programs for their executives. If such rules had been in place, I believe that Olympus might never have started its long journey into financial fraud, or might have corrected itself far earlier.”
Mr. Woodford’s full public comment as submitted to the Tokyo Stock Exchange can be downloaded here:
http://bdti.or.jp/english/node/368
Nicholas Benes
Representative Director
The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI)

Comment on Small Print by corpgov

corpgov — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:18:19 +0000

Weird news for the corporate governance industrial complex. I love it!

Comment on Facebook, I want your money, I don’t want your interference by James McRitchie

James McRitchie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:03:49 +0000

If that doesn’t ring your logic bell, you can always toss a coin. Facebook and the St. Petersburg Paradox http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577200862677176998.html?

Comment on GMI’s Largest Severance Packages of the Millennium by Marc Gunther

Marc Gunther — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:55:01 +0000

Can you provide the entire list, please, Paul?

Comment on What should I do now I’m not President anymore? by James McRitchie

James McRitchie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:55:57 +0000

I think they could find room on the board of the United States Proxy Exchange, if one of these guys wanted to do something for the retail shareowner.

Comment on The Powers and Responsibilities of Ownership by James McRitchie

James McRitchie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:02:47 +0000

Maybe those putting together the indexes should take some responsibility to leave off those with an F.