Investors in 2019 have increasingly turned their attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics, and are demanding more information on how companies are thinking about the potential long-term risk and opportunities related to specific environmental and social factors. As companies prepare for the 2020 proxy season and engage with shareholders, directors should understand the…
The largest companies are gradually telling investors more about the pains they’re taking to protect their own information as well as customers’ privacy. Yet some industries are reporting those efforts better than others, according to new studies. A growing number of firms have fallen into step with last year’s guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission to…
In private conversations, many board members confide that they’re frustrated that they often run short of time in board meetings without adequately discussing strategy. They say those conversations get short shrift while they spend time making sure their managers are compliant with regulations and are managing risks. Indeed, three years ago, McKinsey, the management consulting firm,…
3M Suspends Operations in Venezuela – On June 11, 2019, 3M reported that it had suspended its operations indefinitely in the troubled country. Significantly, 3M did not identify Venezuela as a risk factor in its last four years of SEC filings. 3M joins a host of other companies as indicated by the CompanyIQ® SEC EDGAR…
12 Shareholder Proposals on Sexual Harassment – The #MeToo sexual harassment movement has impacted companies in the 2019 proxy season through 12 shareholder proposals. As the CompanyIQ® SEC EDGAR search tool for proxy proposals indicates, six of the 12 are directly related to preventing sexual harassment. The other six are related to efforts to remove…
Carlyle Group LP, Overstock.com Inc. and AmTrust Financial Services Inc. are among the growing ranks of companies whose annual shareholder reports now include artificial intelligence as a risk factor. About 55 companies mentioned AI in the risk-factor section of their annual reports filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018, more than double the approximately two dozen the…
New interpretive guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February 2018 makes it clear that staff there will be paying increased attention to cybersecurity risks and how well publicly traded companies are disclosing them. Concern among investors, customers, and regulators about data protection and infrastructure safety continues to grow. A robust cybersecurity program…