Corporate Governance

Jimmy Cayne’s foibles spark up Wall Street

1 Nov 2007

The Bear Stearns boss was reported by the WSJ to have smoked pot while offduty at a bridge tournament. While it may have the industry atwitter, this would be no big deal on its own. But combined with his golfing and playing cards during the firm s crisis it raises questions about his overall judgement that Bear s board and its shareholders must consider.

Stan O’Neal’s exit by the numbers

30 Oct 2007

The former Merrill Lynch boss leaves with a $160m compensation package. That equates to almost 20 cents a share. Put another way, he s keeping a 2% fee for overseeing $8.4bn in writedowns. Lucky him. Merrill shareholders, though, would have been better off buying the S&P 500.

Bizarre tie-up underscores Japan’s governance flaws

25 Oct 2007

Japan's economy has made an impressive recovery. But its corporate governance landscape still looks bleak. Oddball deals remain far too common. Unless attitudes change, activist investors will be unable to unlock value.

Latest German attack on activists will backfire

15 Oct 2007

Germany is proposing a new law making it virtually impossible for shareholders to confer without being declared a concert party. The target is supposed to be activists, but the real loser will be German capitalism. Underperforming boards will be nearly impregnable.

Hayward scrubs BP of Browne legacy

11 Oct 2007

The oil group s new CEO has set out on something akin to a cultural revolution that s also designed to cut costs and create greater accountability. So far, his plan is terribly short on detail. What s evident is a desire to remove the baronies that developed over the past decade.

Northern Rock- the fallout

8 Oct 2007

How did Northern Rock develop into the UK s worst banking crisis for a generation? MPs will this week get to grill the FSA, one of the three bodies with responsibility for crisis management. Hugo Dixon suggests five questions to put the regulator on the spot.

Cablevision: Guest View

5 Oct 2007

The coming vote on Cablevision's takeover by the Dolan family highlights poor US governance, Marathon Asset Management's Jeremy Hosking argues in this guest view.

Merrill sackings show renewed taste for blood

4 Oct 2007

Four months ago, the investment bank was boasting how the amicable departure of Dow Kim, its former fixed income boss, showed it had changed. Now he has been booted out early along with his successor, Osman Semerci. Either third quarter results are really bad or the firm s new copresidents are flexing their muscles.

General Motors and UAW both need to blink

24 Sep 2007

The strike may just be a union tactic to prove it s playing hardball. They could start by giving up their last batch of stocks and options. That said, GM s executives need to offer an olive branch. They could start by giving up their latest batch of stock options. The strike may just be a union tactic to prove it s playing hardball. But it can t expect the carmaker to be able to offer many concessions.

Brussels’ antitrust wheels work very slowly

17 Sep 2007

The European Commission feels emboldened by its court victory over Microsoft. But it took years of hard work and isn t totally cleancut. Microsoft will face deeper challenges from rivals like Google than regulators.

Questions linger in Dell accounting scandal

17 Aug 2007

Investors breathed a sigh of relief after the computer group's internal probe revealed smaller than expected restatements. Yet Dell admits unnamed senior executives participated in fraud. Ongoing SEC and Justice Department probes may shed more light.

Mike Ashley piles his plate ever higher

20 Jul 2007

Stakebuilding, activism, and now a reported bid for Foot Locker. The Sports Direct founder hasn't let up since floating his retail empire. But even the best managers can overdo it: look at Renault s Carlos Ghosn. And unlike Renault, Sports Direct s shares are firmly in reverse.

Sants is reassuring choice to run FSA

13 Jul 2007

The new boss of the UK financial regulator won respect in his old job with his lighttouch approach to investment banks and the City. He inherits an FSA that looks in reasonable shape, but it is thinly spread and he takes over at a potentially tricky time.

Browne’s BP exit looks increasingly graceless

9 Jul 2007

The oil major has agreed to freeze millions of dollars benefits due to its former boss. That gives US lawyers something to fight over. The directors are also on the hook. So they have every reason to hold Browne personally responsible for the company s safety lapses.

Brown brings business into his big tent

27 Jun 2007

The new UK Prime Minister s business advisory group is a glittering array of bosses from Britain s biggest and most successful companies. That s a huge vote of confidence from big business. But where are the small companies and entrepreneurs, who have different agendas?

US antitrust chiefs target hippies – not fashionistas

21 Jun 2007

Nearly all mergers pass muster with regulators today. So arbs expect luxury eyewear group Luxottica s $2.1bn bid for Oakley to sail through. But why has the FTC opposed a smaller merger of two organic supermarkets? Perhaps the Bush administration prefers Ray Bans to tofu.

Investors should get more information, not less

19 Jun 2007

Some smart people at the Aspen Institute, Business Roundtable and Council of Investors have come up with a dumb idea. They want to abolish quarterly guidance to reduce shorttermism. The reverse offering more info would work better.

Yahoo looks vulnerable to a lowball bid

19 Jun 2007

The internet group s replacement of its chief executive looks like a fudge. It s not clear who s running Yahoo or for how long. The plan addresses neither Yahoo s technological or strategic problems. And sending out mixed signals makes the board look divided.

Yahoo needs more than a Chief Yahoo at helm

18 Jun 2007

Terry Semel s resignation was long overdue. But handing the job to cofounder Jerry Yang doesn t inject new blood into the internet group. And it s not a redux of Steve Jobs return to Apple. Yang has been on the board and in the house while Yahoo faltered under Semel.

Is Rose the real bargain at M&S?

8 Jun 2007

He saved M&S from raider Philip Green. But had Stuart Rose backed the other team, he might have made eight times the £8m he made this year. But for Rose, it s not all bad. He still gets one of the UK's highest chief executive salaries and a free pass to the City's hall of fame.