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Governance

Today

Issues which once stopped with the CEO or the chair now engulf the whole board.

Three things directors must learn from a time of scandals

A board director’s job is getting more complex. But they need to maintain their own clear lines of sight into the businesses they oversee.

  • Mark Rigotti
The growing power of the super sector raises some big questions.

CFMEU’s return to Cbus board shows it’s time for change

Appointing union officials as directors at a time when super fund boards are screaming out for specialist skills raises questions about the need for change.

  • James Thomson
Simone Constant has ramped up the heat on super fund executives even more, as the scandals engulfing the sector deepen.

Super chiefs risk pay cut for failings: ASIC, APRA

The corporate watchdog has threatened superannuation fund executives with penalties if they do not fix their customer service failings.

  • Hannah Wootton

Yesterday

Gary Weiss has five decades in Australian capital markets.

Meet corporate Australia’s top bulldust detector

With nearly five decades of experience in the markets, Gary Weiss has seen it all. Here’s how he spots corporate BS, and his No. 1 rule as a director.

  • James Thomson
MinRes chairman James McClements will face shareholders on Thursday.

MinRes board fails the pub test. Again

The $45 million transaction revealed by the Financial Review – not by the company – underscores questions over the miner’s governance.

  • James Thomson
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This Month

Chris Ellison and former chairman Peter Wade.

Big super demands MinRes board come clean on founder’s private deals

The influential governance advisor to retirement funds has recommended a vote against its remuneration plan citing a lack of integrity and poor disclosure.

  • Peter Ker
NAB is under fire for alleged breaches of the credit code, after customers pleases for help went unanswered.

NAB taken to court for ignoring customers’ pleas for help

The bank failed to respond within legal timeframes to 345 hardship requests between October 2018 and September 2023, ASIC says in a new Federal Court action.

  • James Eyers
Hailing shareholders: Lendlease’s outgoing chairman Michael Ullmer, left, CEO Tony Lombardo and incoming chairman John Gillam, right, at the start of the company’s AGM on Friday.

Lendlease avoids ‘second strike’ in crucial AGM showdown

The embattled company averted a vote on a potential board spill by convincing shareholders it was on the right track. Some want more evidence, however.

  • Updated
  • Michael Bleby and Campbell Kwan
Wayne Swan says he acted immediately when he learned of customer service problems at Cbus.

Swan says Cbus board was not too slow on payouts. ASIC disagrees

Breaking his silence on the customer service scandal engulfing the industry super fund, the chairman and Labor powerbroker said many criticisms this week were “completely inaccurate”.

  • Hannah Wootton
Chris Ellison.

MinRes flags role in related-party rent relief scheme

The beleaguered miner sought $158,000 repayment from companies linked to the daughter of billionaire founder Chris Ellison.

  • Updated
  • Mark Wembridge
ASX chief executive Helen Lofthouse.

ASX denies breaking law over CHESS status, relied on technology vendor

Exchange boss Helen Lofthouse said it is in the interests of the company and its shareholders for it to defend a case alleging misstatements about the project.

  • Updated
  • James Eyers
Chris Ellison, MinRes’ managing director, and other investors in the Bullsbrook development project.

The $45m MinRes property deal – with the Ellisons on the other side

Investors in the iron ore and lithium miner would have had no idea that MinRes’ joint venture partner in a big Perth real estate play was the company’s founder.

  • Neil Chenoweth and Mark Di Stefano
Cbus chief executive Kristian Fok appears before the senate on Thursday.

ASIC warns directors could be on hook for super customer failures

The warning came as Cbus CEO Kristian Fok apologised to members but defended the fund’s deep financial links to the CFMEU.

  • Hannah Wootton
Simonds executive chairman Rhett Simonds.

ASX-listed builder slammed over ‘no divvy’ in clash with rival

Simonds’ biggest external shareholder, NEX, lodged a protest vote at the group’s AGM, setting the scene for the rivals to compete head-to-head.

  • Michael Bleby
Mineral Resources founder Chris Ellison.

MinRes admits it failed to disclose related-party transactions

The West Australian miner says it cannot say why it did not tell shareholders, claiming the board would be “speculating” if it tried to give a reason.

  • Mark Wembridge
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Platinum founder Kerr Neilson casts his ballot at the Platinum annual general meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.

Platinum founder leads shareholder protest over exec pay

Platinum’s board was hit with a dreaded second strike after founder Kerr Neilson led a shareholder revolt against the company’s remuneration report.

  • Jonathan Shapiro
Catherine West has ramped up her holding in Nine Entertainment.

Nine board puts (some of) its money where its mouth is

Nine Entertainment shareholders can complain about many things, but they can’t say directors aren’t listening.

  • Hannah Wootton
Yenna Ong has resigned from MinRes after being confronted by directors over her personal work for the company’s founder Chris Ellison (right).

Meet Chris Ellison’s personal accountant

Yenna Ong, the number cruncher who managed the Mineral Resources founder’s private affairs, rapidly gained great power. Then just as suddenly, she was gone.

  • Neil Chenoweth
Left to right: MinRes’ James McClements, founder Chris Ellison and L1’s Raphael Lamm.

MinRes saga exposes ESG’s existential crisis (and here comes Trump)

Scandals at Mineral Resources and WiseTech raise hard questions for investors who care about governance and culture. Now Donald Trump’s win raises existential problems for ESG.

  • Patrick Durkin
Fromt left: Chemist Warehouse co-founder Mario Verrocchi, Reece Group’s Peter Wilson, Canva’s Melanie Perkins, and Pro Medicus co-founder Sam Hupert.

Five founders keeping the faith with investors

Corporate Australia has recently experienced a founder “killing season”, but these founder-led companies are still keeping shareholders happy.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/corporate-governance-1m02