由創始人控制的上市公司挑戰公司倫理現象嚴重
????英國議會上周發布的一份長達125頁的報告稱,新聞集團CEO魯伯特?默多克“表現出故意無視,而且……彌漫在該組織從上至下的這種文化表明新聞集團缺乏有效的企業治理……魯伯特?默多克和詹姆斯?默多克——應當做好準備,對此負責。”正如最新的投票委托書所示,魯伯特?默多克控制著這家雙重股權結構公司將近40%的投票權。新聞集團沒有入選《財富》雜志的全球最受贊賞公司榜單,它也沒有回復要求發表評論的電話和郵件。 ????自從英國電話竊聽丑聞爆發以來,“我們還沒有看到魯伯特?默多克提到的全面改革,而且在去年公司董事遭遇高票反對的局面后,新聞集團也沒有做出任何改變。”美國基督教兄弟投資服務公司(Christian Brothers Investments)的社會責任投資副總監朱莉?坦納告訴我說:“股東們需要看到董事會發生徹底改變。”基督教兄弟和地方養老基金論壇(Local Authority Pension Fund Forum)已經提交一份提案,要求設立獨立董事。 ????內森?卡明斯基金會(Nathan Cummings Foundation)的股東活動總監勞拉?坎普斯在一份電子郵件中告訴我說,丑聞爆出后,“我們給了該公司大約6個月的時間來對股東的嚴重不滿作出回應……結果只看到一些象征性的改變……因此,我們決定提出建議,將雙重股權結構合二為一。” ????上個月,新聞集團宣布,為遵從美國聯邦通信委員會對海外投資者控制權的相關要求,公司將取消非美國股東的投票權,但不會利用這一做法增加默多克的投票權。坎普斯寫到:“假如所有股票(包括A類股和B類股)都擁有投票權,該公司很可能就不會違反美國法律,也不必為遵從美國法律而被迫廢止海外投資者的部分投票權。” ????最后一家值得一提的、由創始人經營的公司是切薩皮克,它也沒有入圍《財富》雜志全球最受贊賞公司榜單。上個月,路透社的調查性報道披露了與切薩皮克一項氣井權益相關的貸款安排,顯示對公司聯合創始人兼CEO奧博尼?麥克克蘭頓的監督不力,麥克克蘭頓已于上周卸任董事會主席。上周三路透社的一則報道稱,麥克克蘭頓擔任公司CEO的4年中,一直同創辦切薩皮克的共同創始人湯姆?沃德暗中經營一只2億美元的對沖基金。去年的投票委托書顯示,沃德也已經獲準參與這一氣井權益計劃。 ????紐約市審計長辦公室(New York City Office of the Comptroller)的企業治理執行總監麥克?加蘭德表示,他“歡迎(切薩皮克)將CEO與董事長職位分離的遲到之舉,但問題不只是董事會的領導。問題在于董事會本身。”紐約市養老基金已提議在切薩皮克實施“代理參與”(proxy access),允許未來的股東們通過官方代理提名董事。根據去年的投票委托書披露,切薩皮克的創始人沒有股票投票控制權,因此上述提議可能有機會獲得通過。富國銀行(Wells Fargo)今年的“代理參與”議案獲得高票通過。紐約市養老基金也在納伯斯工業公司(Nabors Industries)提出了類似建議。切薩皮克沒有回復要求發表評論的電子郵件。 |
????A 125-page British Parliament report released this week, says News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch "exhibited willful blindness and … this culture ... permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation … Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch -- should ultimately be prepared to take responsibility." As of its last proxy filing, Rupert Murdoch controlled nearly 40% of the votes in the dual class share company. News Corp., (NWS) which doesn't appear on Fortune's most admired list, did not respond to a call and email seeking comments. ????Since the U.K. phone hacking scandal broke, "we haven't seen the sweeping changes Rupert Murdoch references, and News Corp. has done nothing about the board in the wake of high no votes against the members last year," Julie Tanner, assistant director of socially responsible investing at Christian Brothers Investments told me. "Shareholders need to see sweeping changes on the board." Christian Brothers and the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum have filed a shareholder proposal calling for an independent chair. ????Laura Campos, director of shareholder activities at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, wrote in an email to me that after the scandal broke, "we gave the company roughly six months to respond to the serious level of shareholder discontent … and saw only token changes … Thus we decided to submit a proposal calling for dual class unification." ????Last month, News Corp. announced it was stripping non-U.S. shareholders of their voting rights to meet FCC requirements on foreign control but would not use the move to increase Murdoch's voting position. Campos wrote "if ALL shares -- both class A and class B -- carried voting rights, the company would most likely not have been in violation of U.S. law and would not have been forced to suspend some of the voting rights of its foreign investors to remain in compliance with it." ????Our final founder-run company of note is Chesapeake Energy (CHK), which also doesn't make the Most Admired list. An investigation by Reuters last month into loans arrangements related to a well ownership scheme uncovered poor oversight of Chesapeake Energy co-founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon who was stripped of the Chair title this week. A new report from Reuters on Wednesday says that for four years as CEO, McClendon had been running a $200 million hedge fund on the side with his Chesapeake co-founder Tom Ward. According to last year's proxy, Ward was also allowed to participate in the well ownership program. ????Mike Garland, executive director for corporate governance at the New York City Office of the Comptroller, says while he "welcomes the belated move to separate the CEO and chair roles, the issues go beyond [just] the leadership of the board. The issue is the board." New York City pension funds have a proxy access proposal at Chesapeake, which would allow shareholders to nominate directors on the official proxy in future years. Based on last year's proxy disclosures, Chesapeake's founders don't control the share votes, so the proposal may have a shot. There was a fairly high vote in favor of proxy access at Wells Fargo (WFC) this year, and the New York City pension fund is introducing a similar proposal at Nabors Industries (NBR). Chesapeake did not respond to an email seeking comment. |