Monthly Archives: March 2012

Banking on better boards

Canada’s superintendent of financial institutions is bringing down new corporate governance guidelines for Canadian banks. Her aim: boards that are better at holding management to account
 March 16th, 2012

Insider Julie Dickson Who Superintendent, Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Involvement Three years ago, The New York Times said Julie Dickson had moved from bureaucratic obscurity to become a minor celebrity for her role in keeping Canada’s banking system … Continue reading →

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Emerging market issuer survival guide

While the Sino-Forest saga unfolds, regulators and law enforcement are paying close attention to all emerging market issuers. What’s a director to do?
By Jim Middlemiss
 March 16th, 2012

IT WASN’T EXACTLY a quiet winter for scandal-plagued Sino-Forest Corp. Yet spring promises to get noisier still. On tap: year-end results, updates on ongoing fraud-allegation investigations and class-action suits, and a potential lifting in April of the trading halt imposed … Continue reading →

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Two steps forward

From jobs to GDP growth, the long-awaited U.S. economic rebound is underway. But don’t mistake these nascent positive trends for anything close to full recovery. That will be years in the making
By Ian McGugan
 March 16th, 2012

CANADIAN BUSINESSES have been disappointed for so long in the U.S. economy that it’s only natural to look with a splenetic eye at the most recent data streaming over the border. Jobs growth has jumped beyond modest expectations, the stock market … Continue reading →

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Game, set…rematch?

Despite seeing its proposed legislation for a national securities regulator shot down by the Supreme Court, the Harper government has signaled it plans to keep pushing the issue
By Jim Middlemiss
 March 16th, 2012

JUST WHEN you thought you might get a break from hearing about the federal government’s plans for a national securities regulator—it did just lose a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the issue in December, after all—the subject is still … Continue reading →

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Learning IS the job

Certain big-name programs may get the headlines, but director education is actually a world of different practices and standards. The one constant: as demands on directors from shareholders and regulators keep growing, the need for knowledge keeps increasing, too
By Celia Milne
 March 16th, 2012

IT IS WELL KNOWN that corporate directors of publicly traded companies face sharper scrutiny and disclosure duties than ever before. Education is or should be a critical ingredient in the excellent performance that corporations, shareholders, the public and regulators expect. In … Continue reading →

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Change time is anytime

There’s only one Hunter Harrison. But the fight he’s led with activist Bill Ackman for Canadian Pacific Railway should have every director thinking about board renewal—and what happens when it slips
By Cooper Langford
 March 16th, 2012

UP UNTIL THIS YEAR, E. Hunter Harrison’s reputation as a railway titan rested squarely on his tenure as CEO of Canadian National Railway Co. when, from 2003 to 2009, he built CN into a North American leader in efficiency and … Continue reading →

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Dividends: Should you yield to yield investors?

By Bruce Freedman
 March 16th, 2012

WITH HISTORICALLY low interest rates, and an uncertain economic climate, high dividend stocks have been on a tear over the past two years. It seems every day another TV pundit preaches the mighty dividend, and corporations are increasingly moving to … Continue reading →

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“Pssst! U.S. liquidity…cheap!”

Okay, the OTCQX over-the-counter market isn’t that big of a secret. But it’s still surprising to learn how many Canadian companies are turning to it as an alternative to the cost and headache of listing on a U.S. exchange
By Paul Brent
 March 16th, 2012

IT’S A CRAZY LITTLE growth story that hasn’t entirely found the spotlight. But it has found its market. Twice a week, every week, for the past year and a half, another Canadian listed company has signed up trade its shares … Continue reading →

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Robert L. Crandall: The board as wingman

In The Director’s Chair with David W. Anderson: Robert L. Crandall, chair of Celestica Inc. and former CEO and chair of AMR Corp. and American Airlines, shares some strong thoughts on CEOs and boards working closer together
 March 15th, 2012

Robert Crandall is best known globally for being the CEO and chair of AMR Corp. and American Airlines Inc. through much of the 1980s and ’90s. He played a central role in making American the leading innovator in the industry … Continue reading →

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Saying no to social media

Now here’s a contrarian view: for many companies, communicating with shareholders through social media may be a massive waste of time
By Michael Salter
 March 15th, 2012

This is the new orthodoxy: social media is an irresistible force and it’s increasingly being used to communicate with existing or prospective shareholders. If your company’s investor relations officer (IRO) isn’t on board, she or he is a technophobe who … Continue reading →

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Water: your next risk factor

Once just a concern for certain users, water management and water risks are fast becoming every company’s business. Canada is not immune—though our bounty could be a strategic edge
By Sandra Odendahl
 March 15th, 2012

In recent years, it’s seemed like the only environmental issue getting any attention from the business community is climate change. However, a newer environmental risk is emerging in business conversations and in business publications—water. Every product and almost every service … Continue reading →

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How to see it coming

The failure to understand and evaluate the interconnectivity and compounding effects of risks is a major flaw in the way many boards oversee enterprise risk
By John Caldwell
 March 15th, 2012

While board members from time to time may lay awake thinking about a so-called “Black Swan” event that could cause catastrophic damage to the company for which they serve as directors, we would assert that far fewer directors share sleepless … Continue reading →

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Hired today, gone tomorrow

Boards are spending more time than ever scrutinizing CEO compensation. Yet many fail to do the same when it comes to exit packages. Don’t be caught out: as with celebrity prenups, it pays to plan ahead
By Ken Hugessen
 March 15th, 2012

Boards today spend a lot of time and energy on establishing appropriate compensation arrangements for the CEO—including base salary levels, incentive plan design, and performance measures and targets. Often though, not enough time is spent on provisions triggered on various … Continue reading →

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Lead from the front

When it comes to moving targets in governance, few things are moving faster today than executive compensation. Here are 10 key areas to address to ensure your board stays ahead of the rules
By Richard Leblanc
 March 15th, 2012

The governance of executive compensation by boards continues to be in the headlines. Regulation has emphasized the independence of compensation committees and consultants, similar to what Sarbanes-Oxley did for audit committees and auditors. However, given the occupy movements and wealth … Continue reading →

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Cash out? Or double down?

Cheap debt has played a big part in pushing Canadian commercial real estate prices back to pre-recession 2007 levels. For a growing number of companies, the question is how to play the next round?
By Robert Olsen
 March 15th, 2012

Credit is the lifeblood of commercial real estate. Real estate is a capital-intensive industry so debt, and lots of it, is typically required to support real estate transactions. Fortunately, the Canadian commercial real estate sector has benefited from a healthy … Continue reading →

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