By John Vizikas, Senior Research Analyst On Friday, Daniel Vasella’s chairmanship at Swiss drug maker Novartis ended with the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting. Vasella’s tenure ended amid a rash of shareholder criticism regarding the now infamous “Vasella Golden Handshake,” which came to light only a week before the AGM. Under the now-cancelled [...]
Tag Archives | corporate governance
Novartis: Vasella Golden Handshake No Surprise
February 25, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Executive Pay
Caterpillar’s Siwei Mishap Reveals Management Challenges
February 1, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Naveen Reddy, Director of Ratings and Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst After Caterpillar Inc. bought a company in June for hundreds of millions too much, the equipment maker’s CEO Doug Oberhelman explained on a conference call this week that the managers “deliberately misled” his team. Even so, Caterpillar should have done more due diligence and [...]
Biweekly View: AIG’s Financial Statements Remain Incomprehensible
January 31, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst In a Wall Street Journal article published more than a decade ago and titled “AIG: A Complex Industry, A Very Complex Company,” Lanny Thorndike, manager of the Century Shares Trust mutual fund, expressed his discomfort that he didn’t know everything about the New York-based insurer. He kept a 3-foot-wide color-coded map [...]
Rio Tinto Cut Staff Before Spending $935 Million in 2012
January 22, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst Rio Tinto plc (RIO) cut back on staff before the mining giant’s recently departed CEO Tom Albanese pushed ahead with a nearly $935 million investment in 2012. The company has downwardly revised by $14 billion its estimates about assets it bought in earlier years. Rio Tinto said last week that Mr. [...]
Pressure Rising Over SandRidge Energy’s Governance
January 17, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Agnes Grunfeld, Managing Director, and Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst The pressure on SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SD) continues mounting as critics protest about the Oklahoma oil and natural gas company’s corporate governance. But SandRidge has shown warning signs of corporate governance problems for more than a year. On January 17 the shareholder Mount Kellett Capital [...]
Media Comment On JPMorgan’s Whale Report
January 17, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Executive Pay, Ratings Watch
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst JPMorgan Chase (JPM) released a 132-page report on Jan. 16 that detailed the “London Whale” story surrounding a $2 billion investment fiasco. On the same day the New York financial services firm said its board approved compensating CEO Jamie Dimon $11.5 million for his work in 2012, or around half as much [...]
Biweekly View: How to See Which Payday Lenders Regulators Should Hate
January 17, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc., has staked his reputation on Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB). He said in a Business Courier article on January 20, 2012 that the stock had bottomed after declining 13% the previous year, and he recommended it as an investment. So far, [...]
RBS Reportedly Soon to Settle LIBOR Case, But Other Issues Linger
January 16, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reportedly may pay up to £500 million in fines next week related to allegations of interest rate manipulation. The case is one of many that the U.K. bank has warned could adversely impact its investors. As regulators continued investigations into bank misconduct relating to [...]
Several JPMorgan Directors Long Serving and Well Paid
January 15, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst Several directors who are reportedly reviewing federal orders that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fix its risk management have supervised the New York financial services firm’s CEO Jamie Dimon for many years. They also earned as much compensation in exchange for their services as some bank employees do. The U.S. Federal Reserve [...]
Corporate Governance Key To Gulf Country Success: Deutsche Bank
January 14, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Research Analyst Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stand a “solid chance” of succeeding in developing their financial markets and promoting their competitiveness, Deutsche Bank said in a recent research report. Some drivers that the German financial services firm noted included progress made in corporate governance-related matters. [...]
Shell Spilled More Oil In Recent Years
January 10, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter Royal Dutch Shell plc had more oil spills during 2011 compared to the previous year. The U.K. energy company warned about the potential impact such events could have upon its investors in its most recent annual regulatory filing. After a storm near Alaska’s Sitkalidak Island drove Shell’s drilling unit the [...]
AIG Managers Earned Multi-Millions Post-Bailout
January 9, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter American International Group Inc. (AIG)’s senior managers earned multi-million paychecks after the U.S. government bailed the company out in 2008. The New York insurer’s board will reportedly meet today to consider joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit alleging that the U.S. government enforced onerous terms in connection with its rescue [...]
More Than 100 Countries Pass Reforms Designed to Protect Investors
January 7, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter 108 economies around the world implemented 201 business regulatory reforms between June 2011 and May 2012, according to recent research by the World Bank Group’s private sector investment unit the International Finance Corp. Some of these reforms included measures intended to better protect investors. For its report titled “Doing Business [...]
Liberty Global Avoids Sending Garbage To Landfills
January 2, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA) said recently that around 62% of its total garbage went to landfills in 2011, as the cable operator found other ways to manage much of it. The company recycled more than 2,119 metric tons of its 7,146 metric tons in total waste, according to its first [...]
AGL Discloses Effort To Improve Workplace Gender Equity
December 28, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter With a boost from new requirements in Australia, AGL Energy Limited (AGK) noted limited progress this year in its ongoing battle to make workplace policies more amenable to female staff. The Australian energy company said in its 2012 Sustainability Performance Report released this month that women made up 35% of [...]
Samsung Requests Crack Down on Ericsson’s U.S. Sales
December 27, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEO:005930) has requested an investigation of Ericsson Inc. (ERIC)’s compliance with laws intended to combat unfair importing practices and enforce U.S. intellectual property rights at the country’s border, as the two wireless communications companies continue their patent battles. The Korean consumer electronics maker filed a complaint [...]
As Amgen Pleads Guilty, Supervisors Remain Overextended
December 19, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
By Sonja Ryst, Financial Reporter Amgen Inc. (AMGN) pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally marketing its anemia drug Aranesp, and agreed to pay $762 million in criminal penalties and settlements of whistle-blower lawsuits, media such as the New York Times reported. As this regulatory issue winds to a close for the Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based biotechnology company, Amgen’s senior [...]
Oi Complies With Higher Corporate Governance Standards
December 17, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
Oi announced its compliance with higher disclosure and corporate governance standards, as the Brazilian telecommunications operator continues taking steps intended to improve its access to capital from investors. But Oi could still do more on this front. Oi’s shares began trading on the Brazilian stock exchange’s Special Corporate Governance Stock Index on December 17, the [...]
SEC Alleges Aletheia Cherry-Picked Investments, New York Times Says
December 17, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, GMI In the News
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Peter J. Eichler Jr., owner of the investment firm Aletheia Research and Management, had perpetrated a “cherry-picking” scheme, The New York Times reported. He allegedly steered profitable trades into his personal accounts while allocating money-losing investments into hedge funds that he managed. Mr. Eichler’s scheme, the government reportedly said, allowed his [...]
Weatherford’s CEO Remains In Power
December 13, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint
Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT) is shaping up to be a takeover target with accounting issues that wiped out half its market value on the verge of being resolved, Bloomberg reported this week. So far nothing yet has budged the oilfield services company’s CEO Bernard J. Duroc-Danner from power. Mr. Duroc-Danner has managed Weatherford and its [...]