Sound governance is not some abstract ideal or utopian pipe dream. Nor does it occur by accident or through sudden outbreaks of altruism. It happens when leaders lead with integrity, when directors actually direct and when stakeholders demand the highest level of ethics and accountability. ~ J. Richard Finlay in testimony before the Standing Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy, Senate of Canada.
We’re batting 1000 so far in the prediction department regarding recent developments at Merrill Lynch. Now that the board has shown former CEO E. Stanley O’Neal the door, it needs to do some retooling itself, especially when it comes to its oversight culture, which was pretty limp in supervising Mr. O’Neal. (more…)
It takes something of a rare talent to pull off losses that soar into the billions just after reassuring the market and be paid $48 million for the privilege
He had a pretty much handpicked board and was paid something close to a king’s ransom in compensation. No one could argue that the company was bogged down by directors who were excessive in their corporate governance pursuits. And when Merrill Lynch CEO E. Stanley O’Neal called subprime defaults “reasonably well contained” last June, investors were doubtless encouraged. But then came along that rather large leak in earnings in the form of a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion and a further $7.9 billion charge for failed credit and mortgage-related investments. (more…)