Challenges of Corporate Governance: How Corporate Boards Evaluate Themselves

Tue, 2 April, 2019 5:00pm

Join the Business and Finance Law Program and the Institute of Corporate Responsibility (ICR) for a panel discussion on governing board self-evaluations. In the aftermath of the accounting scandals in the early 2000s, i.e., Enron, Worldcom, etc. and the concomitant questions about the role of their boards, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) changed its listing standards in 2003. Specifically, the NYSE Listed Company Manual requires that (a) “the board should conduct a self-evaluation at least annually to determine whether it and its committees are functioning effectively;” (b) the nominating/corporate governance committee must “oversee the evaluation of the board and management. . . [and] perform an annual evaluation of the committee;” and (c) that audit and compensation committees perform annual committee evaluations. Prior to the adoption of these listing standard requirements, board evaluations were not a widespread practice. Now, they are a routine practice, even by companies listed on other exchanges. This panel will cover the issues addressed in board self-evaluations as well as how boards follow up on the findings. The panelists all have deep expertise in the subject based on their experiences on multiple corporate boards as well as advising boards.

Moderator

Hon. Cynthia A. Glassman, Senior Research Scholar, ICR; Board Member of Discover Financial Services and Navigant Consulting; Former Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Panelists

Hon. Mary Bush, President and Founder, Bush International; Board Member of Capital Partners for Education (chair), Bloom Energy, Discover Financial Services, Marriott International, ManTech International, and T. Rowe Price Group
Anita Gentle Newcomb, President and Managing Director, A.G. Newcomb & Co.; Independent Director of Luther Burbank Corporation/Luther Burbank Savings Bank
John Veihmeyer, Global Chairman, KMPG International (retired); Board Member of Ford Motor Co., University of Notre Dame, Financial Accounting Foundation, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, and Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C.
Steven Walker, Managing Director and General Counsel, National Association of Corporate Directors; Board Member of Objective Interface Systems and ContractRoom