2021

United States Image

Crisis in the C Suite: A 10-Step Plan

Nov 02, 2021

It’s an all-too-common occurrence. A senior executive is accused of wrongdoing ― sexual misconduct, bullying, financial fraud, a conflict of interest or other conduct posing a compliance or integrity concern. Suddenly, directors find themselves thrust into the center of a crisis, forced to make critical decisions on a short timeline, often in the glare of a public spotlight. It’s a time for clearheaded thinking and a game plan. Here’s a 10-point guide for directors for the first few, critical days.

Review the guide on Skadden's website.

United States Image

Cyber Oversight Effectiveness Development: A New Approach for Boards of Directors

Nov 10, 2021

Cyber Oversight Effectiveness Development (COED) is a new approach for building a board’s capabilities as it oversees cybersecurity risk and provides strategic leadership in this critical area.

Nearly every large public company board has made significant investments in cybersecurity, enhancing human capabilities in both management teams and boards and allocating major capital to secure their IT infrastructures. But we regularly hear from directors that these are no more than steps on a long journey. Even in a company where internal management of cyber risk appears strong, the board of directors can worry that its oversight may not be adequate—or that it has no reliable way to assess its adequacy or to compare its capabilities with those of boards of other firms.

COED seeks to address this gap. It is predicated on the belief that cyber risk often requires fundamentally different treatment than other risks, such as health and safety or fraud. Directors, executives, company secretaries, and others who care deeply about effective governance are the intended audience for this report and for the COED approach.

Review the publication on Tapestry Networks' website.

IESBA (International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants) (lt gray) Image

Deadline extended for IESBA’s long association post-implementation review stakeholder survey

May 28, 2021

On May 28, 2021, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) extended the closing date for stakeholders to submit responses to its Long Association Post-Implementation Review (LAPIR) questionnaire to June 30, 2021.

The questionnaire seeks stakeholder feedback on key matters relating to Phase 1 of the LAPIR. This feedback will help inform the IESBA’s review of the implementation of the five-year cooling-off requirement for engagement partners on audits of public interest entities in the International Independence Standards. This review is being undertaken before the “jurisdictional provision” in the Long Association standard expires for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2023. The jurisdictional provision permits jurisdictions to apply a cooling-off period less than five years subject to specified conditions.

Review the press release on the IESBA's website.

United States Image

ESG Impact Is Hard to Measure — But It’s Not Impossible

Jan 22, 2021

Around the globe, a third of all professionally managed assets, or roughly $30 trillion, are now subject to ESG criteria. That’s a remarkable sum, one that represents an increase of more than 30% since 2016. Between April and June of 2020 alone, investors poured more than $70 billion into ESG equity funds, vastly exceeding recent annual flows.

US_SEC Image

ESG Risk Alert

Apr 09, 2021

On April 9, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released this risk alert that describes the areas on which the SEC staff is focusing in examinations of registered investment advisers’ and funds’ ESG offerings.

Review the alert on the SEC's website.

Canada Image

ESG: What boards of directors should do now

Sep 02, 2021

Many boards of directors are considering their approaches to environmental, societal and governance (ESG) topics and, more particularly, how ESG can contribute to the long-term success of their businesses. Such introspection is partly in reaction to demands from shareholders and other stakeholders. The past year showed a marked rise in social movements, including a host of powerful demonstrations drawing participants from different groups, from warehouse workers to climate activists, increasingly teaming up to demand change.

Review the article on Norton Rose Fulbright's website.

Canada Image

Federal government releases diversity disclosure guidelines

Feb 03, 2021

On February 3, 2021, the Director General of Corporations Canada published guidelines with the goal of driving consistency in the diversity disclosure requirements for distributing corporations under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

These guidelines address how to effectively disclose:

  • the timeframe for diversity information disclosure
  • targets for representation on the board and among senior management and
  • the number and percentage of directors from each of the designated groups on the board and among senior management.

The guidelines are provided to encourage corporations to disclose their diversity information yearly in a more consistent manner. 

Review the guidelines on the Government of Canada's website.

United States Image

Financial targets don’t motivate employees

Mar 18, 2021

It’s natural for leaders to emphasize the importance of hitting financial targets but making numbers the centerpiece of your leadership narrative is a costly mistake. Financial results are an outcome, they’re not a root driver for employee performance, and a growing body of evidence tells us that overemphasizing financial targets erodes morale and undermines long-term strategy.

Leaders looking to motivate employees must instead use their time with their teams to build belief in the organizational purpose, the intrinsic value of the employees’ work, and the impact they have on customers, and each other. To do so, the authors recommend three tactics: 1) Reevaluate how you use your leadership airtime; 2) Discuss your customers with specificity and emotion; and 3) Resist the urge to widely share every measure of financial performance.

Review the full article on the Harvard Business Review's website.

United Kingdom Image

Flying blind: The glaring absence of climate risks in financial reporting

Nov 09, 2021

This report examines whether 107 publicly-listed carbon-intensive firms (and their auditors) considered material climate-related risks in financial reporting. At the same time the study also assesses whether investor concerns about Paris-alignment of assumptions and estimates have been addressed.

Despite significant financial risks faced from the climate crisis, and net-zero pledges made by many we found little evidence that companies or their auditors considered climate-related matters in the 2020 financial statements.

Review the press release and report on the Carbon Tracker's website.

IVSC Image

Follow-up paper to IVSC paper on challenges to market value

Dec 01, 2021

The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) published a perspectives paper "Challenges to Market Value" in February 2021 that looked at the challenges in relation to the availability of market information in a pandemic world. A broad range of feedback was received in relation to the paper that has prompted the IVSC to publish a second paper in the series.

This second paper, Market Value: An Established Basis of Value, includes discussions on:

  • Price, cost, value and worth
  • How do we define what the ‘market’ is and how does this impact on market value?
  • What is the market value conceptual framework?
  • Is market value backward looking?
  • Are the ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ truly captured when using a market value premise?
  • How does the valuer utilize assumptions and special assumptions with market value?

Review the press release and perspectives paper on the IVSC's website.

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.