accountability

Saturday, January 1, 2005

Resolution submitted Exxon Annual Meeting 2005

2005 shareholder resolution submitted to Exxon Annual Meeting proposing an independent chairman. January 1, 2005 | accountability , annual meetings , Exxon , independent chairman , shareholder resolutions , shareholder activism , responsible ownership

Thursday, January 1, 1998

Emperor's Nightingale Readers Guide

A reader's map to the book, Emperor's Nightgale by Robert Monks, 1998. January 1, 1998 | ownership , accountability , corporate governance

Friday, July 1, 1994

Tommorow's Corporation

What do U.S. share owners really want? What should be the roles of the different stakeholders such as employee owners and institutional investors? In what ways will ownership structures change? What tools will be available for motivating employees, managers, share owners, etc.? What will be the structure of tomorrow's… July 1, 1994 | globalization , institutional investors , accountability , Corporate Power , fiduciary duty

Tuesday, January 1, 1991

Power & Accountability

Corporations determine far more than any other institution the air we breathe, the quality of the water we drink, even where we live.  Yet they are not accountable to anyone.  January 1, 1991 | accountability , Corporate Power , corporate governance , shareholder activism , self-regulation , responsible ownership

Wednesday, January 27, 1988

Fiduciary Language

An essay debating self-regulation of the institutional fund industry.  "Control over the private sector of the economy simply is too important to be delegated to institutional trustees as part of their commercial responsibility."   January 27, 1988 | fiduciary duty , institutional investors , self-regulation , accountability

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

To my surprise!

Years ago I was interviewed for a documentary called The Corporation.  A new documentary has been made using some of that old footage and I thought I'd share it with you.  See what you think and look for me at about 12:35. December 19, 2012 | accountability , corporate social responsibility , corporate governance , social responsibility

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Serendipitous Week and a Renewed Hope for Stewardship

Since the financial crisis, I’ve made repeated calls for the Great and the Good to step become active and responsible owners (see this piece on the GMIRatings site). Actually, I started on this track before the crisis when I wrote a letter to Harvard – my alma mater –… November 13, 2012 | corporate governance , ethics , LIBOR , stewardship , United Kingdom , shareholder activism , accountability

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Corporate Character

GMI is trying to define the characteristics of a corporation and how management make decisions that affect shareholders.  October 11, 2012. October 17, 2012 | corporate governance , Corporate Power , management , shareholder rights , accountability

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Happy Monopoly - Ratings Agencies

Happy monopoly describes the ongoing status of the SEC approved rating companies (Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations – NRSRO).  Notwithstanding that the Financial Crisis Investigation Commission and Senator Carl Levin’s Subcommittee on Oversight confronted the CEOs of the big ratings firms whose crisis-related pay went up by a multiple… April 24, 2012 | proxy , SEC , CEO power , Corporate Power , accountability

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Corporate Governance 2011 -- Year End Reflections

1. The Elephant in the Living Room. The single best indicator of the state of corporate governance - a system of accountable power – is the capacity of senior management to increase their own compensation that has been going on for two decades. The metaphor of the elephant in… January 3, 2012 | accountability , corporate governance , CEO Pay , boards of directors , Dodd-Frank , lobbying , fiduciary duty

Thursday, November 17, 2011

National Debt and Government Capture

In this new video I address the U.S. national debt as a symptom of corporate power over government.  Everywhere I look these days there is evidence of government capture: lobbying, the revolving door in Washington, the dismantling of employee pension plans ...  As I said in my last post,… November 17, 2011 | Capture , accountability

Thursday, November 17, 2011

What is Government Capture?

As I have moved my attention to corporate power and government capture I was asked to explain what I mean by "capture."  Daniel Kaufmann has discussed been talking about it for some time and I encourage you to look at his blog.  Google searches will lead to all kinds… November 17, 2011 | CEO Pay , Capture , accountability , financial crisis