More facts on Equifax

Posted by & filed under Ethics, Executive Compensation.

Description: And if the Equifax breach wasn’t bad enough, this past week we found out what a terrible job Equifax did in handling the crisis. First, we learned the company waited six weeks to tell us about the breach, leaving consumers uninformed their data was in peril. Second, we now know at least three Equifax… Read more »

That’s quite a pay cut

Posted by & filed under Accounting Theory, Executive Compensation.

Description: This past week we learned Barrick Gold executive chairman John Thornton earned just a little over $3 million for 2015. That doesn’t sound too bad, until you read that the year before Thornton was awarded almost $13 million, with almost $9.5 million coming from incentives. Barrick Gold drew the attention of three major pension… Read more »

Valeant story continues

Posted by & filed under Executive Compensation, Personal Tax.

Description: Valeant pharmaceuticals continues to be in the business press, with word this week that Goldman Sachs sold a huge chunk of CEO Michael Pearson’s shares in order to collect on a $100 million loan it had made Mr. Pearson. Apparently Mr. Pearson did not want his shares to be sold, though they had been… Read more »

Pension funds say on pay

Posted by & filed under Accounting Theory, Contemporary Business Issues, Executive Compensation.

Description: Three major pension funds are ready to throw out the board of Barrick Gold because they are concerned about the company’s executive pay plan. One of the three pension funds also expressed concerns about pay practices at CIBC. Although these funds are only minority shareholders, their public statements may raise important points regarding concerns… Read more »

Fines not enough

Posted by & filed under Ethics, Executive Compensation, Taxation.

Description: It seems that even big fines are not enough to prevent financial institutions from helping their clients hide from tax authorities. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists recently released  various details about HSBC’s Swiss operation, where “piles of cash” were hid from taxing authorities. Britain appears to have generated roughly $200 million in revenue… Read more »

Target’s compensation timing

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Ethics, Executive Compensation.

Description: In yet another story on Target’s decision to leave Canada, regulatory filings have revealed that a number of executives and board members received in total 113,298  performance share units on the same day the board voted to end the Canadian experiment. Although the timing of the compensation appears to be consistent with Target’s established… Read more »

Having their say on pay

Posted by & filed under Accounting Theory, Advanced Accounting, Corporate Governance, Executive Compensation.

Description: Shareholders are beginning to flex a bit more muscle in Canada when it comes to executive compensation. In short, a recent survey of shareholder voting at some of Canada’s largest companies shows that voters may be aligning executive pay with return to shareholders. Source: Globe and Mail.com Date: September 7, 2014, last updated September… Read more »