Friday, May 24, 2013

A Stacked Deck: JPMorgan Shareholder Fight

In my business, it seems you only win the ones that don’t count. In my case: Sears pulled out all the stops to keep me off the board;   After winning a 40% precatory vote to separate the CEO and Chairman at Exxon two years running, support fell to… May 24, 2013 | CEO power , shareholder activism , JPMorgan , annual meetings , boards of directors

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Loopholes, Islands and Havens

  Tax avoidance is hot news – and especially because American tech darling Apple was called before a Senate subcommittee to explain why they paid such very low taxes in this country despite earning billions in revenue.    Today we hear of world leaders calling for international tax laws… May 23, 2013 | multinational corporations , Tax Havens , Offshore , Corporate Power , Capture

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Corporations Are Not People: A book to inspire a movement

Jeffrey Clements’ book, Corporations Are Not People, is an indispensable source of information and analysis on the present state of corporate power in America. What is particularly valuable is the cogent analysis of such a contradictory and dysfunctional conclusion.  It’s an indispensible source of the who/what/when in the Citizens United… May 21, 2013 | Citizens United , Book Review , corporate speech , Supreme Court

Monday, May 20, 2013

Human Behavior vs. Corporate Behavior

A few years ago -- around the time of the 2010 Citizens United decision -- I was thinking about "corporate citizenship" and corporate "speech."  These ideas don't make sense to me.  Corporations are a legal construct -- something made by humans -- and yet we've given them human rights,… May 20, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

What do we look for in female leaders?

The moment I emerged from my mother's womb, however, my possibilities dwarfed those of my siblings, for I was a boy! And my brainy, personable, and good-looking siblings were not....So my floor became my sisters' ceiling -- and nobody thought much about ripping up that pattern until a few… May 14, 2013

Friday, May 10, 2013

127 Years of Corporate Personhood

127 years ago today -- May 10, 1886, in an important aside in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company 118 U.S. 394 (1886), the Supreme Court concluded that corporations were “persons” entitled to the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution and, therefore, legal participants in… May 10, 2013

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Ric Marshall: Quantifying what is qualitative in ESG

Years ago I founded a small research company called The Corporate Library in Portland, Maine.  The idea was to rate companies based on governance with the premise that good governance increases value.  Today, TCL is GMIRatings a leading risk metrics company with staff in Maine, New York and London. … May 7, 2013

Friday, April 26, 2013

Citizens DisUnited: Review by Jim McRitchie

corpgov.net has grown into a first-class resource for shareholder activism and corporate governance.  It's a must-go-to site every day.  Jim has given me unwaivering support over the years and this is my chance to encourage you all to look at his site.  I'm very pleased he has offered a… April 26, 2013

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Citizens DisUnited: Review by Jeff Clements

Jeff Clements has been working on issues around the Citizens United case since the Supreme Court re-heard the case in 2009.  At the time he submitted an Amicus brief to the Court arguing against expanding corporate rights.  Since then he has co-founded Free Speech for People and most recently… April 23, 2013

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Celebrating a Hero: Lance Lindblom wins an award

Last month, Lance Lindblom was awarded Common Cause New York's Democracy In Action award.  He's one of the few true leaders in responsible ownership.  In 2012 he retired after more than a decade at the Nathan Cummings Foundation.  Before that, while at the Ford Foundation, he focused on democratic… April 11, 2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Today's evidence of corporate capture

Revolving door influence.  From the New York Times: "The consulting firm is filled with so many former bureaucrats and political insiders that it has become known as Wall Street’s shadow regulator. Nearly two-thirds of its roughly 170 senior executives worked at agencies that oversee the financial industry. " … April 10, 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Teaching Ethics and Investing Ethically

It's long been a dirty secret in the university world that they don't necessarily practice what they preach.  Prestigious (and expensive) universities that teach governance and ethics don't necessarily use the principles they teach when investing for endowments. The same is true for environmental issues -- a hot topic… April 6, 2013