A perennial question for boards seeking new directors is whether to focus on specialized skills or more generalized knowledge. And while the use of board skills matrices – required by the Nasdaq Exchange – is both common and helpful, there is more to consider today. The changes to the corporate governance world, just in the…

In recent years, a paradox has emerged with respect to diversity on boards of directors. On the one hand, recognition of the value in diversity continues to grow. At the same time, progress with respect to diversity’s advancement and acceptance within boardrooms has stalled across many international contexts. For example, the 2024 Q1 Gender Diversity…

The board of directors generally has two functions: strategy and oversight. It should be no different for ESG (environmental, social, and governance). In terms of strategy, it’s less a question of whether a company should report on climate-related financial information but how it will do so. Boards and management should work together to define their…

What is the future of corporate responsibility? First, we need to figure out what it is. There is little doubt that over the past decade we’ve seen an increase in the amount of discussion about what it means to be a responsible business. For a long time the conversation centered around corporate social responsibility, or…

Most banks are full-service banks that control every aspect of banking in-house, that is they control the entire value chain of the customer experience and use their own infrastructure. Recent regulations have forced banks to open up this infrastructure to third parties (API’s, or application programming interfaces, specifically), particularly regarding account information and payment initiation…

In the wake of the SEC’s ruling on climate change earlier this month and subsequent lawsuits against its constitutionality, it seems like a good time to review material information in general. Although it sounds simple, the decision by companies to disclose information about their impact is anything but. It rests on the definition of material…

Generational gaps – those differences that generalize one group by age from another – can sometimes lead to positive ‘teaching’ moments but also to negative culture clashes, even intractable misunderstandings. So, what happens when company executives and their employees experience this gap in perspective? Leaders today are facing this challenge – for the first time…

Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity recently noted that continued focus is necessary for Fortune 500 boards to be more representative of the U.S. population. Research on the state and national level has focused on this very issue – and on whether and at what pace company boards and C-Suites can become reflective of…

The Nasdaq exchange, one of the largest in the world, requires that firms listed on its exchange have at least one woman director and one director who self-identified as being part of an underrepresented minority group by 2025. The SEC complemented this move by issuing compliance and disclosure interpretations related to the disclosure of self-identified…

Pressure for companies to do something about the environment has grown substantially over the past decade. Scrutiny from investors, customers, regulators, proxy advisors, and the media is often targeted at the board of directors. What do they need to know about the disclosure landscape? Disclosure priorities for companies include those that have a substantial impact…