Financial Times (August 3)
“Companies denied votes on a record number of resolutions during this proxy season after US regulators made it harder for shareholders to demand changes related to climate, diversity and labour rights.” As a result, the number of shareholder proposals is down from last year. “ISS-Corporate found that 21 per cent of environmental and social proposals were omitted this year, compared with only 9 per cent last year.” The SEC granted nearly a third more “no-action” requests, which allow companies to omit shareholder proposals from proxy materials.
Tags: Climate, Companies, Denied, Diversity, Environmental, ISS, Labour rights, Proxy season, Regulators, Resolutions, SEC, Shareholder proposals, Social, U.S., Votes
New York Times (February 16)
“Fearing Trump, Wall Street sounds a retreat on diversity efforts.” Seemingly everybody is rushing to ensure “they don’t wind up in the cross hairs of the Trump administration’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion.” Among those scurrying away from DEI are “white-collar investment banks, consultancies, mutual funds and stock exchanges. The latest was Goldman Sachs, which said on Tuesday that it would drop a quota that forced corporate boards of directors to include women and members of minority groups.”
Tags: Consultancies, Corporate boards, Cross hairs, DEI, Directors, Diversity, Equity, Fear, Goldman Sachs, Inclusion, Investment banks, Minority groups, Mutual funds, Quota, Retreat, Stock exchanges, Trump, Wall Street, White collar, Women
New York Times (January 13)
“Critics of D.E.I., or diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, have tried to scapegoat it for everything” of late. “The economy and political landscape have changed since 2020, when companies hired D.E.I. officers in droves amid a racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd. Recently, D.E.I. programs have become less visible.” It may be rebranding, but “over the past two years, hiring for D.E.I. roles has plunged and the number of investor calls mentioning D.E.I. has dropped.”
Tags: 2020, Critics, D.E.I. officers, Diversity, Economy, Equity, Floyd, Hiring, Inclusion, Investor calls, Plunged, Racial, Rebranding, Scapegoat, Visible
New York Times (May 14)
Nearly three years after George Floyd’s murder prompted many companies to embrace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D.E.I.), “some companies are amending their approach to D.E.I., even renaming their departments to include ‘belonging.’ It’s the age of D.E.I.-B.”
Tags: Approach, Belonging, Companies, D.E.I.-B., Diversity, Equity, George Floyd, Inclusion, Murder, U.S.
The Street (December 1)
To promote diversity and better governance, Nasdaq has proposed new rules that “would require companies to appoint at least two diverse directors on their boards or explain their rationale for not meeting that objective.” Before submitting its proposal to the SEC, Nasdaq analyzed over “two dozen studies that found an association between diverse boards and better financial performance and corporate governance.”
Tags: Boards, Directors, Diversity, Explain, Governance, Nasdaq, Performance, Rationale, Rules, SEC
Financial Times (May 5)
Brexit has “exposed the internal divisions within the established political parties and unearthed a diversity of views that is struggling to be contained inside two organisations. A more diverse political landscape would, arguably, be more representative of modern Britain. But making this transition will not be a quick process. Any break-up of the old political order is likely to be long, slow and painful.”
Tags: Break-up, Brexit, Diversity, Divisions, Exposed, Order, Parties, Political landscape, Slow, Struggling, Transition, UK
New York Times (November 9)
“What goes around comes around, and on Tuesday, karma came for President Trump and his Republican acolytes. From Washington to Maine, New Jersey to North Carolina, Trumpist ugliness was met and vanquished.” Diversity overcame division with the Democratic victories. “What welcome inclusiveness at a time when the president stews in a hate-filled bubble, appealing only to the shrinking fraction of Americans unrepulsed by his behavior.”
Tags: Democrat, Diversity, Division, Hate, Inclusiveness, Karma, Republican, Trump, Ugliness, Vanquished
Institutional Investor (June 14)
“Companies and their stake holders are increasingly anxious to add more women to their boards, a process that can be fraught with controversy…. But for all the hand-wringing,” a recent study from the Wharton School found that “companies do not perform any better—or any worse—when they have women on their boards.” This is “the research diversity experts don’t want you to read.”
Tags: Anxious, Boards, Controversy, Diversity, Experts, Hand-wringing, Performance, Research, Stakeholders, Wharton, Women
New York Times (September 20)
Days after the Chelsea bombing, with an eye to this week’s UN meeting, the mayors of three great cities (Bill de Blasio of New York, Anne Hidalgo of Paris and Sadiq Khan of London) write, “We know policies that embrace diversity and promote inclusion are successful. We call on world leaders to adopt a similar welcoming and collaborative spirit on behalf of the refugees all over the world during the summit meeting this week. Our cities stand united in the call for inclusivity. It is part of who we are as citizens of diverse and thriving cities.”
Tags: Bombing, Chelsea, De Blasio, Diversity, Hidalgo, Inclusion, Khan, London, Mayors, New York, Paris, Refugees, Thriving cities, UN meeting
New York Times (November 12)
“For a majority of Canadians, Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet symbolize a renewed sense of national identity rooted in diversity, in humane and inclusive social policies at home and in humanitarian service overseas. The thrill of the moment may be fleeting, but it is invaluable for awakening new generations to public service and as an antidote to the cynicism about politics that has sadly become the norm in established democracies.”
Tags: Awakening, Cabinet, Canadians, Democracies, Diversity, Humane, Identity, Inclusive, Public service, Trudeau
