The Securities & Exchange Commission on Wednesday adopted a new rule requiring companies to recoup “erroneously awarded” incentive-based compensation after filing a restatement to correct inaccurate financials. It also goes a step further than what was initially proposed in 2015 by including both “Big R’” and “little r” restatements as potential clawback triggers under these…
The Securities & Exchange Commission is on the verge of adopting proposed rules that would ultimately require companies to claw back incentive compensation from executives after filing a restatement to correct inaccurate financials. However, a memo released in June with the reopening of a comment period on the latest proposal is raising questions among legal…
Investors are ramping up their scrutiny of medium-term emissions reduction targets and are planning to hold boards accountable if they don’t pass muster. Proxy advisory firm ISS’s recent benchmark survey results show that a significant number of 188 investors told ISS that a lack of “realistic” medium-term emissions reduction targets for Scope 1 and 2…
Saudi Arabia’s megadevelopment Neom is paying senior executives roughly $1.1 million each annually, according to an internal Neom document, showing how the kingdom is using large pay packages to lure global talent to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s national transformation plan. Neom is the most ambitious project in Saudi Arabia and one of dozens of…
The debate over the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate disclosure rule is continuing to heat up as all sides press the commission on a proposed requirement for public companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions from supply chains and other sources outside of companies’ direct control, also known as Scope 3 emissions. Companies will also have…
In recent years, search firms have been flooded by requests for director candidates with cybersecurity backgrounds as boards seek to leverage this expertise when responding to rising cyber risks. …Over the past five years, companies in both the Russell 3000 and S&P 500 have seen the number of directors boasting cybersecurity expertise climb by the…
Once seen as a pesky disclosure responsibility, skills matrices have grown increasingly common in recent years, evolving from a boilerplate exercise to a useful internal tool in the refreshment process, as well as in proxy contests, sources tell Agenda. More than half (55%) of the S&P 500 now disclose board skills matrices as pressure to…
Leonel Rondon was killed in September 2018 after a control line on a century-old natural gas pipeline in Lawrence, Massachusetts, failed, detonating a home and sending its chimney crashing down onto the car he was sitting in. The explosion that killed 18-year-old Rondon was one of several and, as it was later revealed, resulted from…
A group of 64 investors holding $9.8 trillion in assets under management this month formed an initiative aimed at companies with a high water footprint to pressure them on valuing and reducing the material, financial risks linked to water and, in turn, to better guard global freshwater resources. The investor group, led by Ceres, plans…
Plastic use and the risks associated with it are garnering more heat from stakeholder groups, including shareholders, the federal government, the United Nations and ESG accounting standard setters, which have targeted single-use plastics. Boards should ensure that appropriate internal stakeholders are prepared for increased focus on the issue, which has generated popular shareholder proposals this…