The Conference Board Middle East and North Africa Briefs

In advising non-director officers about conduct that could give rise to fiduciary claims, it is prudent to routinely advise that they take steps to meet the conditions of the business judgment rule. However, practitioners should also keep in mind that there may be a question whether officers will be entitled to that protection.

Sophie L’Helias, a senior fellow with The Conference Board Governance Center and founder of the LeaderXXchange, was named to Global Proxy Watch’s “2018 GPW 10” list.

Despite research suggesting most consumers feel that businesses should take an active role in driving social and environmental changes, in 2019 companies are likely to tone down their public advocacy. As companies plan for 2019 with a divided government in Washington, it could be important to navigate new policies and regulations with dialogue on the issues.

This Q&A with Norm Prestage discusses the job of the corporate director from his perspective as a partner with EY. He feels like the best directors have a deep understanding of company strategy and risk profile, act as a sounding board for management, and are keenly aware of stakeholder concerns.

The charitable/social/independent sector is a formidable economic force that's reported to generate 10 percent of the country's gross national product, but the lack of any standard name for it could be diminishing its influence on public policy. Leaders will need to step up to agree on terminology that gives the sector collective clout.

The question for the SEC is how far it should go in addressing changes to proxy advisory firms. Do all proxy advisors need to be treated like investment advisers or do they need their own regime? What should they disclose? How will the way they do business change?

Leading businesses are turning to purpose to articulate their mission, power growth, unite and motivate the organization, and become future-ready in a world of non-stop change. Companies can and should use purpose intentionally to figure out how to run their businesses.

This Q&A with Daniel Sunderland discusses the job of the corporate director from his perspective as Chief Auditor at Deloitte. He touches on topics like the influence of the external auditor in the job of the corporate director and the definition of tone at the top.