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Program on Corporate Governance Advisory Board
- Peter Atkins
- David Bell
- Kerry E. Berchem
- Richard Brand
- Daniel Burch
- Paul Choi
- Jesse Cohn
- Arthur B. Crozier
- Renata J. Ferrari
- Andrew Freedman
- Ray Garcia
- Joseph Hall
- Jason M. Halper William P. Mills
- David Millstone
- Theodore Mirvis
- Philip Richter
- Elina Tetelbaum
- Sebastian Tiller
- Marc Trevino
- Steven J. Williams
Author Archives: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
What’s “Controversial” About ESG? A Theory of Compelled Commercial Speech under the First Amendment
The SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rules create an opportunity to reflect on the limits that the First Amendment places upon securities regulation. As regular readers of this blog know, the SEC has proposed rules to make companies disclose their “climate risks” along with their greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and certain climate-related financial metrics. Unlike existing […]
Click here to read the complete postESG Global Study 2022
Executive summary ESG adoption is on the rise, fuelled by client demand and a desire to make an impact. As ESG momentum continues to gain steam, investors are refining and evolving their strategies. This can be seen in the implementation arena, where investors are moving away from basic screening methods towards more targeted and sophisticated […]
Click here to read the complete postWeekly Roundup: June 10-16, 2022
Practical Stake Posted by Bruce F. Freed and Karl J. Sandstrom, Center for Political Accountability, on Friday, June 10, 2022 Tags: Accountability, ESG, Lobbying, Political spending, Reputation, Social contract, Stakeholders Remarks by Chair Gensler Before the Investor Advisory Committee Posted by Gary Gensler, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on Friday, June 10, 2022 Tags: Investor protection, Retail investors, Risk disclosure, SEC, Securities fraud, Securities regulation The SEC’s Climate Proposal: Top […]
Click here to read the complete postStatement by Chair Gensler on Request for Comment on Certain Information Providers Acting as Investment Advisers
Today [June 15, 2022], we have issued a request seeking comment on the activities of “information providers”—namely, index providers, model portfolio providers, and pricing service providers—and how our framework for registering and regulating investment advisers should apply to those providers (if at all). I want to encourage market participants to comment. Index providers, model portfolio […]
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Posted in Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications, Regulators Materials, Speeches & Testimony
Tagged Asset management, Index funds, Institutional Investors, Investment advisers, Investor protection, Retail investors, SEC, Securities regulation
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Activism Vulnerability Report: Q1 2022
Introduction and Market Update This post will present findings from our Activism Vulnerability Screener for the first quarter of 2022 and discuss other notable trends in the world of shareholder activism and engagement. Markets experienced heightened volatility during the quarter, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbating already challenging inflation, pandemic, supply chain and oil price […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, Corporate Elections & Voting, Institutional Investors, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Boards of Directors, Institutional Investors, Mergers & acquisitions, Shareholder activism, Shareholder voting, Sustainability
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E&S Shareholder Proposals
A manager’s voting record on environmental and social (E&S) shareholder proposals is sometimes equated with a manager’s overall commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. But such an assessment does not consider a manager’s broader stewardship activities and the effectiveness of shareholder proposals at improving portfolio company governance. Dimensional’s stewardship approach includes engagement, proxy […]
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Posted in Corporate Elections & Voting, ESG, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Climate change, ESG, Institutional Investors, SEC, Securities regulation, Shareholder proposals, Shareholder voting, Stewardship
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Policy Insights on Executive Compensation
Executive summary On behalf of the Vanguard funds, we advocate for well-structured executive compensation plans that drive relative pay and performance alignment, are fair to long-term shareholders, and are flexible through uncertain times. We look for compensation programs that drive sustainable value for a company’s investors in a way that links pay with performance relative […]
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Posted in ESG, Executive Compensation, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Asset management, Compensation disclosure, ESG, Executive Compensation, Index funds, Institutional Investors, Say on pay
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Do Equity Markets Care About Income Inequality? Evidence from Pay Ratio Disclosure
Stagnant middle-class wages but rapidly-increasing incomes by high earners have led to a growing debate about income inequality in the U.S. However, it is largely unknown how U.S. financial markets and shareholders assess the dispersion in pay between a firm’s top executives and rank-and-file employees. Understanding equity markets’ assessment of income inequality is important because […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, Empirical Research, ESG, Executive Compensation
Tagged Capital markets, Compensation disclosure, Compensation ratios, Disclosure, Dodd-Frank Act, ESG, Executive Compensation, Inequality, Reputation, Stakeholders
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The SEC and Messaging Apps
The government’s ongoing effort to crack down on the use of ephemeral messaging platforms at financial institutions appears to have entered a new phase. According to press reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or the “SEC”) is requiring Wall Street banks to undertake an unprecedented review of dozens of their top executives’ and […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Banking & Financial Institutions, Financial Regulation, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement, Securities Regulation
Tagged Banks, CFTC, Discovery, Financial institutions, Financial regulation, Financial technology, SEC, Securities enforcement, Securities regulation, Social media
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Socially Responsible Divestment
Responsible investing is becoming increasingly mainstream. In 2006, the United Nations established the Principles for Responsible Investment (“UN PRI”), a commitment to invest responsibly, which was signed by 63 investors managing a total of $6.5 trillion. By the end of 2021, this had grown to 4,375 investors, representing $121 trillion. Blanket exclusion of “brown” industries, […]
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Posted in Academic Research, ESG, Institutional Investors
Tagged Disclosure, Divestitures, Exit, Externalities, Incentives, Institutional Investors, Reputation, Sustainability
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