ConocoPhillips Co. (COP) deserves credit for electing the environmental expert Jody Freeman as a new outside director, but its board has shrunk from 14 members to ten. The U.S. oil and gas giant’s investors remain exposed to the risk of experiencing losses related to regulation. Warning signs about the company’s trustworthiness continue. For example, Utah’s [...]
Tag Archives | corporate governance
GMI Ratings Governance Update | ConocoPhillips Co.
July 12, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | SK Group
July 11, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
At the SK Group, the bottom of the corporate governance trough has yet to be seen. A recent regulatory action that resulted in a significant fine is a case in point. On July 8, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it had fined seven affiliates of the SK Group, South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, a [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Duke Energy Corporation
July 10, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
CEO James Rogers faces questioning today from North Carolina officials regarding the unanticipated leadership change at Duke Energy Corporation following its $18 billion buyout of Progress Energy. The charismatic executive will be probed by the North Carolina Utilities Commission regarding the dismissal of Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson. Mr. Johnson, who was appointed 18 months [...]
Shareholder Spring Comes to Japan… at least at Mizuho Financial Group
July 10, 2012 in Daily Viewpoint, News and Opinions, Shareholder Activism
By Nicholas Benes - Representative Director of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan This is the second part of a two-part blog. The Power of “Reasonable Proposals”: Mizuho Financial Group The best example of the potential for a positive and constructive feedback loop arising from “eminently reasonable” shareholder proposals in Japan was set by Mizuho [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
July 9, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. announced a $280 million lawsuit payment related to the financial crisis. While the stock has performed better in the year to date as the New York financial services firm puts some problems behind it, investors who seek to accurately value the shares must still take numerous uncertainties into [...]
Shareholder Spring Comes to Japan… at least at Mizuho Financial Group
July 9, 2012 in Daily Viewpoint, News and Opinions, Shareholder Activism
By Nicholas Benes – Representative Director of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan This is part one of a two-part blog posting by Mr. Benes about the Japanese shareholder spring and the latest surprise votes at the annual meeting of Mizuho Financial 2012 seems destined to go down in history as the year when “shareholder spring” [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Vodacom Group Limited
July 6, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Vodacom Group Limited’s new CEO to be, Shameel Aziz Joosub, will navigate the South African mobile phone company through transition in the coming years. He’ll likely pay more attention to the needs of the company’s majority owner, U.K.-based Vodafone Group Plc., than other investors. Joosub was formerly CEO of Vodafone’s Spanish unit. But now Petrus [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Update | Carnival Corp.
July 5, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
The Costa Concordia reportedly failed to address many safety problems before its famous crash near the Italian island of Giglio. The recent news is another reminder that the Carnival Corp., which operated the scandal-tainted cruiser, has put its customers and investors at risk by continuing to have poor governance. After six months of investigation into [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | GlaxoSmithKline plc
July 3, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
GlaxoSmithKline plc must pay $3 billion in the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history, underscoring that companies expose themselves to the risk of denting shareholder value by breaking the law. Moreover, the price tag for getting caught is tough for investors to predict. Regulators alleged that the U.K. pharmaceutical manufacturer marketed the drugs [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | The McGraw-Hill Companies
July 2, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
The McGraw-Hill Companies said on Monday that Freddie Mac’s former CEO Charles E. “Ed” Haldeman Jr. has joined its board. Increasing the number of people supervising the New York information services provider is a step in the right direction, but McGraw-Hill’s managers could still do more toward safeguarding their investors’ best interest. McGraw-Hill’s board now [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Update | Research In Motion Limited
June 29, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Research In Motion Limited is delaying the launch of its new Blackberry 10, suffering worse than expected sales, and letting go of 5,000 people. While the stock plunged more than 18% on Friday after the news, maybe investors should not have been so surprised. The troubled company has been and remains at risk of announcing [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Update| The Talbots, Inc.
June 28, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Flash Reports
After The Talbots, Inc. finally agreed to a lower acquisition bid from the private equity firm Sycamore Partners, the struggling women’s clothing store said its executives will get millions if the deal closes and shareholders approve the farewell packages. Sycamore made a $3.00 per share bid on December 6, 2011. Talbots nonetheless refused within weeks, [...]
Nell Minow on CFO Network: Short Term vs Long Term
June 27, 2012 in Video
Featured on WSJ Live, GMI director Nell Minow speaks with Dennis Berman about how public companies try to balance short term demands of the market while trying to build long term value.
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Cisco Systems, Inc.
June 27, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Cisco Systems, Inc. lost its key acquisitions executive, Ned Hooper. After laying off thousands of people and announcing plans to streamline its operations in 2011, the Santa Clara computer networking company has continued buying up new investments in recent months. As the business grapples with the resulting chaos, its financial statements remain an uncertain hodgepodge [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Global banks
June 26, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded 28 Spanish banks on Monday and 15 global ones last week. Many of these companies’ managers are still struggling to improve their governance, which contributes to doubts about the strength of their businesses. The New York ratings agency cut its long-term debt and deposit ratings on Spanish banks by one to [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Groupon, Inc.
June 25, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Groupon, Inc.’s managers might celebrate that the daily deal website’s shares gained more than 4% of their value last week, after Morgan Stanley vouched for them with a ratings upgrade announcement. But the stock price’s more than 50% decline during the year to date underscores the importance of corporate governance. More than a year since [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Update | Oracle Corp.
June 22, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Oracle Corp. on Thursday confirmed that a key executive quit, a day after news hit that the California software company’s CEO Larry Ellison bought himself an island in Hawaii. The indicators of high governance risk at Oracle continue developing. On Tuesday GMI had noted news reports that Keith Block, Oracle’s executive vice president of North [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Navistar International Corp
June 21, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Flash Reports
Navistar International Corp.’s CEO Daniel C. Ustian is battling the threat of investors wresting away the truck and engine maker, and news hit this Thursday that his team got fined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Investors have had warnings for years that Navistar’s shares come with high corporate governance risk. The EPA is fining Navistar [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Statoil
June 20, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Flash Reports
Investors who are eyeing Statoil’s growth prospects should also note that the Norwegian energy company is going through organizational upheaval. While the changes might help the partially government-owned company in the long run, they add uncertainty to Statoil’s earnings statements in the meantime. The company is trying to overcome the threat of declining oil fields [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Oracle Corp.
June 19, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
Oracle Corp. dazzled the market on Tuesday with its earnings and allayed fears about an executive leaving. Nonetheless, those who take the software company’s financial statements at face value continue to expose themselves to the risk of less pleasant surprises. Rumors swirled Monday that Keith Block, Oracle’s executive vice president of North America sales and [...]