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Experts following the new statutes agree on two key points. First, California corporations have succeeded in finding women directors from diverse backgrounds in response to the 2018 statute, despite opponents’ assertions that boards would have difficulty identifying good nominees. As a result, they contend that boards won’t have trouble identifying other diverse candidates either. And […]
In addition to the recent litigation, efforts to advance board racial diversity have included legislation. Earlier this year, the California legislature passed a bill mandating the inclusion on boards of California headquartered companies of representatives of “underrepresented communities.” On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed the bill into law. As discussed below, even […]
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) continues to disrupt the global economy, corporations across sectors and industries are confronting a host of questions about how to adapt to the extraordinary challenges posed by the pandemic. While management is handling the day-to-day response to the burgeoning crisis, boards of directors face a unique set of considerations […]
In September 2018, California became the first state to legally compel corporate board diversity with a law mandating that every public company in the state have at least one female director by the end of 2019. The law set off a scramble to find hundreds of female directors, many of whom don’t fit the traditional […]
It has been a surprisingly strong catalyst to nudge boards to add more female directors. But now, California’s first-in-the-nation law that mandates women on boards is facing a critical court challenge. The libertarian group Pacific Legal Foundation recently filed a federal lawsuit, saying California’s law violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. The group also […]
But as David Erickson, a senior finance fellow at Wharton business school, puts it, the problem with blaming the bankers “is that you don’t get hired for telling somebody that their baby’s ugly”. So we should spare a moment to remember the board, which has a responsibility to provide the kind of ugly-baby feedback that […]
Undoubtedly, upon learning of the Capital One hack, corporate board members across the U.S. are likely struck by one immediate thought (there but for the grace of God go I) and one immediate question (What should I do now?). This article tackles the issue of third party digital risk management head-on, by offering a useful and comprehensive strategical […]
As the old adage goes, all good things come to an end. The bull market cannot last forever and there already are warning signs that suggest a slowing economy in 2020. Regardless of who will be in the White House after next year’s election, the regulatory pendulum is already swinging toward more enforcement, particularly in […]
Signed on Sept. 30 by Governor Jerry Brown, it will require that, by the end of 2019, each publicly traded company based in California must include one woman on their board of directors; the quota increases by the end of 2021 based on company size. The big question that faces the legislation: Can it survive […]
California has become the first state to require publicly traded companies to include women on their boards of directors, one of several laws boosting or protecting women that Gov. Jerry Brown signed Sunday. The measure requires at least one female director on the board of each California-based public corporation by the end of next year. […]