CG news update vol.10

ESG Risks Trickle into Financial Filings
October 21, 2019 By Leah Rozin

Investors in 2019 have increasingly turned their attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics, and are demanding more information on how companies are thinking about the potential long-term risk and opportunities related to specific environmental and social factors. As companies prepare for the 2020 proxy season and engage with shareholders, directors should understand the current state of ESG risk reporting in public filings.

Standards setters such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures provide frameworks to disclose ESG risks that could have a financial impact. Despite, or perhaps due to, the myriad standards and suggested disclosure frameworks, companies struggle to identify the most relevant risks to disclose, and where in their reporting to disclose them. In 2019, 66 percent of companies in the Russell 3000 Index discussed ESG risk but approaches varied widely. (Read more click)

One Goal, Different Paths to a Diverse Board
October 16, 2019 By Bonnie W. Gwin

It seems that almost every country, company, and board is focused on achieving greater governance diversity. It is core to thriving in today’s complex global businesses. Achieving it is in every company’s interest, considering the growing and indisputable body of evidence underscoring the advantages a diverse board and diverse leadership confer—whether in terms of shareholder value or, equally important, but harder to measure, in terms of reputation value. Worth noting, however, is that companies are taking vastly differing paths toward this common goal.

Our firm takes a broad view of diversity, which we define as the mixture of experience, backgrounds, and functional skills boards require to advise on and oversee companies’ strategies and senior leaders. And we recognize that depending on an individual country’s or company’s culture and regulatory practices, that mix, and the way to get there, will vary. Useful approaches taken in various countries that can highlight different paths to success follow. (Read more click)

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