Challenges in Corporate Governance: The Role of Corporate Board Directors in Company Disclosures and Other Communications

Join the Business and Finance Law Program and the Institute for Corporate Responsibility for a panel discussion on the role of corporate board directors in company disclosures and other communications. Federal securities laws oblige directors to disclose certain information to the public, including material information that investors would consider important. The monitoring of the reporting may occur at the full board level or by one of the committees, depending on the nature of the information. The main requirements are the annual and quarterly reports to shareholders as well as the proxy statement for the annual meeting. Over the years, disclosures have expanded from the financial performance of the company to cover a wide range of information such as risk factors, compensation of directors and officers, and the CEO pay ratio. Further, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board is developing standards for companies to disclose on ESG (environmental, sustainability, and governance) issues. The discussion will revolve around what directors actually do to carry out their oversight of traditional and evolving disclosures.

The panelists all have deep expertise in the subject based on their experiences on corporate boards, working at the SEC, and on audit issues of public companies. The program should be of interest to students of business and accounting as well as securities law.

This event is eligible for Upper-Level Foundations of Practice credit as a Professional Development Program.

Moderator

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

Panelists

Alan L. Beller
Senior Counsel, Cleary Gottlieb
Board Member of the Travelers Companies and SASB
Trustee of the IFRS Foundation (International Financial Reporting Standards)
Former Director of the SEC Division of Corporate Finance

Mark Graf
EVP and CFO of Discover Financial Services
Board Member of Signet Jewelers and Imerman Angels
Former Investment Advisor with Aquiline Capital Partners

Julie Bell Lindsay
Executive Director of the Center for Audit Quality
President of the Board of the Association of SEC Alumni
Former Citigroup Managing Director/ Deputy Director of Global Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel for Capital Markets and Corporate Reporting