IR Leader
July 23, 2019

Top Stories

Are Executives Making Rational Choices About Investments in ESG?

In this new paper from the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford, "Stakeholders and Shareholders: Are Executives Really 'Penny Wise and Pound Foolish' About ESG?," the authors examined survey data from CEOs and CFOs of companies in the S&P 1500 to understand the extent to which the respondents believed that, in business planning and long-term strategy development, they took into account and attributed importance to the needs of non-investor stakeholders, such as employees, unions, customers, suppliers, local communities, government and regulatory agencies and the public at large.

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FASB Gives Private Companies Breathing Room on Lease Accounting

FASB members voted unanimously to propose moving back the effective date for lease accounting and two other major new accounting standards.

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Hermes: Industry ESG Scores for Small and Mid-cap Companies Can Be Misleading

Given the scarcity of clear disclosures from small and mid-cap companies versus large-cap peers, Hamish Galpin explains why a reliance on data can give rise to a misleading picture of smaller companies' ESG credentials.

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MiFID II Research Unbundling Spreads Uncertainty to the U.S.

Eighteen months after MiFID II rules to unbundle research payments from executions have been in force in Europe, U.S. asset managers are dealing with uncertainty around paying for research and how to compete with global firms that adopt the EU rules.

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Diminishing the Power of Proxy Advisory Firms

A debate is raging in Washington among financial regulators, lawmakers, trade associations, public company CEOs, academics and investment advisors over how to regulate an important industry many Americans have little familiarity with: proxy advisors.

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New Diversity Disclosures Under the CBCA Effective for Annual Meetings in 2020

New diversity disclosure requirements will be effective for annual meetings of public CBCA corporations beginning on January 1, 2020. Consistent with global trends, the federal government is aiming to increase diversity on boards of directors and among senior management. The CBCA now aligns with Canadian securities laws that prescribe disclosure about women on boards and in senior management positions - but the CBCA goes further by also requiring disclosure regarding the representation of visible minorities, Indigenous peoples and people with disabilities. Unlike securities laws, the CBCA grants no exemption for venture issuers.

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Active Managers 'Overwhelmingly' Back Shareholder Activism, Study Finds

Reservations remain despite high levels of overall support.

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SEC Staff to Host July 18 Roundtable on Short-Term/Long-Term Management of Public Companies, Our Periodic Reporting System and Regulatory Requirements

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that its Division of Corporation Finance will host a roundtable on July 18, 2019 to hear from investors, issuers, and other market participants about the impact of short-termism on our capital markets and whether our reporting system, or other aspects of our regulations, should be modified to address these concerns.

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