Boards & Shareholders

Can a company default on its bonds if it doesn’t file its quarterly or annual financials on time? That issue has become the subject of a heated battle between BearingPoint and investors in two of its convertible securities, who claim the company is in default because BearingPoint has not filed its 2004 report or its […]

OFreshfields.” Sounds gentle. Except that you will soon recognize it as code for tough-minded investor scrutiny of your company’s management of environmental, social and governance risks. You’ll even begin to hear that particular troika referred to by a new shorthand: ESG. What’s going on? Under most firms’ radar screens, a partnership of fund management firms […]

There’s an old story about a championship basketball game in the animal kingdom between the Ants and the Elephants. Late in the game, with the Elephants up by one, the Ants had possession, and were heading down the court looking to score. As the star Ant dribbled forward, the Elephant guarding him lifted his foot […]

For the first year on record, management submitted more proposals to repeal classified boards than did investors. That’s according to Subodh Mishra, a researcher at Investor Responsibility Research Center, who told Compliance Week that—in the first half of the year—companies filed about 60 proposals to declassify their boards, compared to roughly 50 shareholder resolutions calling […]

When the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office this year announced an investigation into the $57 billion sale of Gillette to Procter & Gamble, state officials zeroed in on the minutes of a meeting by Gillette’s board of directors in which the sale was discussed. “There’s no evidence of extensive deliberations,” Massachusetts Secretary of State William […]

The New York Stock Exchange plans to file a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission either this week or next week to clarify disclosure requirements related to the independence of board directors, NYSE officials said. The Exchange is also considering an indicator that would flag companies that are out of compliance with its […]

The New York Stock Exchange plans to file a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission either this week or next week to clarify disclosure requirements related to the independence of board directors, NYSE officials said. The Exchange is also considering an indicator that would flag companies that are out of compliance with its […]

Shamrock Holdings was founded in 1978 by Stanley Gold to invest the assets of certain Disney family members, including Walt Disney’s nephew Roy E. Disney. It mostly kept below the radar until a couple of years ago, when Gold and Disney waged their highly public campaign to oust Michael Eisner as head of Walt Disney […]

The national headlines and global business reports were anything but quiet last month. Hurricane Katrina. Oil prices at $70 a barrel. Refineries off-line. Gas prices above $3 a gallon. Hurricane Rita. It was a month of uncertainty, sorrow, angst and grief. And while the eyes of the nation focused intently on developments in Louisiana, Texas, […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the practice of companies retaliating against research analysts who provide negative reports. “The Commission staff has been reviewing this matter and is currently considering several possible solutions for recommendation,” Chairman Christopher Cox wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Wyden had written […]