Category Archives: Handbook

Page 1 of 212

Directors wanted: operational experience required

It’s a common lament at many boards: we can’t find new directors with CEO-level operational experience. It’s also mostly hogwash. A much bigger problem: tired, safe, word-of-mouth recruiting practices
By Robert Thompson
 April 15th, 2013

It isn’t a lack of talent, but a myopic viewpoint that limits Canadian boards when it comes to adding new directors. That’s the take of corporate governance expert Beverly Behan. Her remarks come at a time when yet another report, … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , , ,

Loonie’s letdown for real

Don’t let the last of the Canadian-dollar bulls dissuade you—the loonie’s value is falling and it’s not finished yet. But don’t worry. A lighter dollar doesn’t necessarily mean a lighter order book
By Ian McGugan
 April 14th, 2013

The beaver is cute and the maple leaf packs a certain whole-earth appeal but, when it comes to national symbols, it’s the loonie that provides the highest-profile gauge of how our national economy is faring. Over the past decade the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Handbook | Tagged , ,

Conflict goes up the chain

New SEC rules on conflict-mineral disclosure put scrutiny on sourcing
By Celia Milne
 March 1st, 2013

Does your company use conflict minerals? Where do your suppliers source their ingredients? If you haven’t heard that question a lot yet, you soon will—now that management and boards in many sectors are tracking use of minerals that might fund … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , ,

Directors, it’s time for the talk

When it comes to emerging market operations, high-profile governance failures don’t just fire up the regulators. They give boards impetus to press their own CEOs: could it happen to us?
By Robert Thompson
 February 25th, 2013

To Carol Hansell, the most fundamental issue facing the directors of Canadian energy, mining and resource companies isn’t happening in the boardroom, but in countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Hansell, a senior partner in capital markets and corporate … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook, Top Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Missing info speaks volumes

A B.C. Securities Commission study pinpoints serious shortfalls in junior miners’ reporting and technical disclosure
By Omar Kahn
 February 25th, 2013

Canadian listings of public mining companies may be centralized on Toronto-based exchanges, but with more than half of all listed Canadian mining companies located in British Columbia, the B.C. Securities Commission continues to assert its place as Canada’s leading junior … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , ,

Personal branding tips for the C-suite

No matter how high their rank or how thick their résumé, business leaders can—and should—keep defining their personal brand
By Celia Milne
 January 7th, 2013

What are you known for? What’s your reputation on the Street? In the boardroom community? If that question leaves you puzzled, chances are pretty good your personal brand is not everything it could be. All your attributes might be positive. … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged ,

Career maker—or career breaker?

Is the immediate celebration of CEOs who lead their companies to winning M&A bids premature? The data—not to mention a couple of recent, high-profile examples—say just that
By Robert Thompson
 December 21st, 2012

Go for the high-impact takeover deal or play the slower, safer growth percentages? It’s a question chief executives wrestle with constantly. And, as we’ve seen elsewhere in this issue, a lot of them ultimately decide to take the M&A plunge. “CEOs … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook, Top Stories | Tagged , , ,

The ultimate impasse

There’s a lot at stake when boards of directors and CEOs disagree. Sometimes, the tension is creative and easily resolved. But when it’s not, boards must act
By Paul Brent
 September 26th, 2012

Conflict happens. It is a natural outcome of putting a group of people together in a room and asking them to make oftentimes-difficult decisions. That dynamic is magnified when corporate directors and officers with varied backgrounds, skills, life lessons and … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , , ,

Your next CFO

Too often, companies only miss good chief financial officers when they’re gone. But if you’re hiring, be prepared to make the most of it: the job’s changing, and so are the personnel
By Paul Brent
 June 17th, 2012

They might be the second-most important executives at many companies, but the role, demands and make-up of the chief financial officer vary immensely, as do the times—and the reasons—companies find themselves looking to hire a new one. For small- and … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook, Top Stories | Tagged , , , , , ,

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 →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , , ,

My portal or yours?

Board portals: once a sleepy software product, now a disruptive technology. Courtesy of the iPad
By Joel Kranc
 January 6th, 2012

STEVE JOBS’ VISION and understanding of what people wanted—sometimes before they even knew it—runs the spectrum from everyday iPod user to the most senior directors at the boardroom table. Case in point: the iPad. The iPad is single-handedly changing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , ,

Did someone say ‘perp walk?’

New crime bill could up convictions, increase jail time and delay pardons for Canadian executives
By Rachel Graham
 January 6th, 2012

The Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10), passed in the House of Commons in December, could have harsh implications for violators of The Competition Act. Richard Wagner, an Ottawa-based partner at Norton Rose, warns that Wall Street “perp walks” may be … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , ,

Follow these leaders: 2011 Corporate Reporting Awards

Start a master course in Canadian reporting with the CICA's 2011 Corporate Reporting Award winners
 January 3rd, 2012

We gave a nod to Suncor Energy Inc. in the adjoining column as a leading example among Canadian issuers in sustainable development reporting. So it won’t be a total surprise to learn that Suncor has won the award of excellence … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , , , ,

The future is integrated

The real story in corporate reporting is what it says about the way companies operate, and how shifting demands and expectations—from shareholders, regulators and other stakeholders—are driving business to embrace the big picture
By Cooper Langford
 January 3rd, 2012

SIXTY YEARS AGO, when the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants began its annual program honouring best practices in corporate reporting, public companies could be certain of at least one thing: the audience for their statements consisted almost exclusively of well-heeled … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The long hello

A CEO search that drags on for many months is rarely a good sign or situation. Yet sometimes the waiting is worth it
By Paul Brent
 October 7th, 2011

What’s a sure sign that your CEO search has gone off the rails? Try a mention in the business press that your lengthy chief executive quest is starting to make investors nervous. That’s just the scenario that Shoppers Drug Mart … Continue reading →

Posted in Handbook | Tagged , , ,
Page 1 of 212