The virtuous cycle of rising wages with productivity gains broke in the late 1970s, leading to stagnant incomes for most American workers.
Corporate governance shifted in the 1980s, with a focus on maximizing shareholder returns, leading to massive job cuts and weakened worker bargaining power.
Decline in union membership since the late 1970s has contributed to shrinking middle class as unions effectively negotiated better wages and benefits for workers.
Japan's corporate governance reforms, starting with Abenomics, have been driving positive change in the capital allocation practices of Japanese companies.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's new listing structure, especially the Prime Market, has raised standards for companies, promoting better corporate governance.
The practice of naming and shaming low price/book ratio companies in Japan is pushing them to improve profitability, enhance investor communication, and comply with new capital allocation rules.
The SEC has sent notices to SolarWinds' employees over potential legal action related to the Russian hack.
Receiving Wells notices is rare, especially for a CISO, and can lead to penalties and restrictions on future roles.
SEC is expanding its focus on cybersecurity breaches and companies may face consequences for misleading disclosures or failing to address vulnerabilities.
The UN Security Council held a session to discuss the risks and benefits of AI, highlighting concerns over international stability and nuclear control.
Corporate governance is important for AI labs to prioritize safety over profit, with innovations in structures like Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust.
China's new AI rules balance social stability and economic development, with stringent regulations on generative AI systems.
Investors tend to favor domestic companies over foreign ones not only in investment portfolios but also in shareholder voting decisions.
Shareholders show a bias towards voting in favor of management proposals, especially in contentious issues, with a significant preference for domestic companies.
Factors like potential business ties, governance rules, and information quality contribute to this home bias in voting behavior, making it challenging to hold domestic company managers accountable.
Vanguard, the world's second-largest asset management firm, with $8 trillion AUM, has withdrawn from ESG, which is a significant move.
There are signs of people waking up and pushing back against social engineering, like the ESG framework, showing a recalibration in public perception.
Major financial institutions, like Vanguard and JPMorgan Chase, distancing themselves from ESG indicates cracks in the system and growing public awareness, potentially due to popular sentiment.
Silicon Valley Bank faced a significant spike in insider loans, raising concerns about VC conflicts of interest and Director independence.
Approximately 38% of SVB's reported incremental venture debt went to start-ups affiliated with Directors, prompting questions on underwriting transparency.
The lack of disclosure in the Proxy Statement and the concentration of loans to insider-affiliated start-ups suggest potential VC conflicts of interest impacting risk management.
Stock buybacks involve a company purchasing its own shares from the market, which can boost stock prices and reduce the number of shares in circulation.
Stock buybacks are typically done by older, established companies with market dominance, in order to reward investors when they don't have resources for other investments.
Controversies around stock buybacks arise from executives benefiting significantly from buybacks through stock options, while companies may conduct layoffs and seek government bailouts.
The former chairman of Unity Bank in Nigeria orchestrated a massive financial scandal involving billions of naira in non-performing loans and a dubious loan portfolio sale.
The scandal involved regulatory malpractice, compliance fraud, and the misuse of bank funds by insiders, leading to severe financial harm to the bank and potential systemic risks.
Despite clear regulatory violations, the bank's management, auditors, and regulators failed to take appropriate action, highlighting a need for thorough investigations and accountability measures.