Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) conducts an annual survey to obtain input on corporate governance issues. The survey results are considered by ISS in preparing annual updates to its proxy voting policies. The survey often provides insight into potential ISS policy changes for the upcoming proxy season.
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In a recent ruling in Genesis Land Development Corp. v. Smoothwater Capital Corporation, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta found that a dissident shareholder breached its obligations under securities law when it failed to properly disclose, in an early warning report, that it was acting 'jointly or in concert' with other dissident shareholders to gain control of the Genesis board of directors. In its finding, the Court confirmed that, for purposes of disclosure under the early warning reporting system, the concept of acting 'jointly or in concert' is relevant not only to take-over bids, but it is also relevant to proxy contests.
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Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White on Friday said new financial regulations that have expanded transparency in the once-opaque world of hedge funds will benefit investors.
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The Canadian Securities Administrators yesterday proposed changes to auditor oversight rules intended to enhance the integrity of financial reporting by reporting issuers mainly focused on changes to National Instrument 52-108 Auditor Oversight. NI 52-108 imposes certain obligations on both reporting issuers and auditors, including the requirement that any public accounting firm that audits the financial statements of a reporting issuer be a member in good standing with the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB).
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The 2014 Proxy Season is quickly approaching. In 2013, U.S. trends have emerged with respect to the proposals filed by shareholders with S&P 500 and Russell 2000 corporations. Four main themes of interest stand out.
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Business in Canada recently had the opportunity to interview Richard Taglianetti, a giant in the hedge fund universe who has raised millions of dollars for start-up managers over the course of his career. At present, Richard serves as the senior managing director of hedge funds at Corinthian Partners, where he connects institutional investors on both sides of the Atlantic with emerging managers who have logical, scalable processes and strong track records, to boot.
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A recent article published by Bloomberg explains that the recent plunge in commodities prices has forced many big players in the mining industry to cut back on their spending: copper and zinc have decreased in the midst of speculation of an economic slowdown in China, and gold has plunged 24 percent, placing it on course for its first annual decline in over a decade.
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Regulators should curb off-exchange trading in so-called dark pools to ensure investors see tighter spreads and face lower costs, the head of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) said on Wednesday.
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Directors, in addition to executives, soon may be targets of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions for failing to make a good faith attempt to assure that a corporate information and reporting system is in place.
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SHARE made a submission to the Ontario Securities Commission on their proposal to increase the number of women on corporate boards in Canada. SHARE agreed with the 'comply-or-explain' approach, but favoured a broader definition of diversity reflect all of Canada's diversity.
There was significant interest in the proposal and a range of views was represented in the submissions.
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Despite the growing use of Twitter and Facebook as an investor tool, Canadian regulations are still focused on enforcing traditional disclosure methods.
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