Corporate Board articles from May 2008

Corporate Board archives from May 2008

When boards speak to their shareholders.
May 1, 2008... While investors hammer on the boardroom door over topics like ballot access and "say on pay," directors too often avoid shareholder communication, fearing liability. Ira Millstein, a dean of American governance law, urges corporate counsel to...

Boards and investors: views on executive pay.
May 1, 2008... No issue has ignited more shareholder fury than top executive pay plans that seem excessive, detached from results, and too easily gamed. As the following study results show, directors and investors approach pay issues from very different...

Opening your board portal.
May 1, 2008... Technology has helped make corporate governance faster, more efficient, and safer over the past decade, but the downside drives some directors away E-mails are insecure, faxes sit in a shared "In" basket, and too many eyes scan board...

In the zone: new insolvency rules.
May 1, 2008... A few years back, directors faced real legal uncertainty when their companies were "in the zone" of insolvency. To whom did the board owe its loyalty--shareholders or creditors? What if board turnaround efforts added to the debts? Recent legal...

Securities lawsuits and D&O insurance.
May 1, 2008... With the mortgage industry meltdown and economic recession, securities class action suits are on the rise again. Boards should take a fresh look at both their D&O policies and their indemnification programs. New liabilities and new...

Most CEOs are overpaid, say one in three company directors.(Compensation & Recruitment)
May 1, 2008... CEO pay is "too high in most cases," say about one in three directors of U.S.-based public companies in a survey by Heidrick & Struggles and the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of...

CEO bonuses slipped in 2007.(Compensation & Recruitment)
May 1, 2008... Equilar, specialists in executive compensation benchmarking, has published its latest issue of Executive Compensation Trends. Key findings include: [] CEO bonus trends. A study of 108 companies with revenues over $1 billion, finds that the...

Socially responsible investment on the increase.(Corporate Responsibility)
May 1, 2008... Spurred by such factors as rising institutional investor interest, growing demand for renewable energy alternatives, and the emergence of new products, socially responsible investing (SRI) in the United States is now growing at a much faster...

Proxy season 2008 is proving contentious.(Shareholders & Investors)
May 1, 2008... For the 2008 annual meeting season, investor activists are pressing their agendas with corporate managements and boards, according to Proxy Governance, Inc. On the one hand, plunging stock prices, and massive write-downs stemming from the...

More companies opening in-house clinics to reduce medical costs.(Strategy & Finance)
May 1, 2008... As insurance and healthcare costs spiral upward and companies look for ways to minimize the impact on their operations, the national trend of providing physician on-site services continues to grow. A.R.E. Accessories LLC, an Ohio-based...

Five years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)
May 1, 2008... Boards are dealing with honest, ethical people, but over time tiny unethical steps erode their values. At Enron the board waived the code of conduct. That step was highly unusual, and caused them all sorts of grief. Now the directors' liability...

Ten years ago in The Corporate Board.(Retrospectives)(Quotation)
May 1, 2008... For purposes of corporate governance, the question is straightforward: Who should decide whether a manager is competent to run the corporation? Placing that policy decision in the hands of shareholders would not increase and may decrease the...

Books received.(Bibliography)
May 1, 2008... Lifecycle Of A Technology Company. By Edwin L. Miller, Jr. John Wiley & Sons. $90. From the venture stage to going public, or other popular exit strategies, this book examines the benchmarks in technology company growth and development. ...

Articles & speeches.(Spoken & Written)
May 1, 2008... I don't look at it as a management issue when we're talking about a publicly held corporation. I look at it as a leadership/ CEO/fiduciary duty. Call it 'trusteeship." Use "stewardship." That's a word we don't hear much about. But it's a very,...

Recent board elections.(Directors' Register)
May 1, 2008... Arrow Electronics, Inc. has elected to its board Gall E. Hamilton, executive vice president of Symantec Corporation. Autobytel Inc. has elected to its board Jan Thompson, executive vice president of Omnicom Group Inc. Bausch & Lomb...

Gary Lutin: a forum for your shareholders?(Conversations)
May 1, 2008... As a seasoned investment banker, financial advisor, and investor activist, Gary Lutin has seen the power unified shareholders can exert when they take on an underperforming company and its management. Since 1999, Lutin has headed...