Proxy Battles to Watch at Banks' Annual Meetings

That rite of spring known as annual meeting season begins soon, though social-distancing practices will make it largely a virtual affair for the second year in a row...
That rite of spring known as annual meeting season begins soon, though social-distancing practices will make it largely a virtual affair for the second year in a row...
The death of George Floyd and the protests that followed have added a sense of urgency to credit unions’ efforts to diversify their boards of directors. But while the industry has made some progress, experts said more work remains to be done...
Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., has agreed to make several corporate governance changes as part of a settlement with certain shareholders. The $10.1 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that it will also enhance its infrastructure, along with its risk and compliance controls...
HomeStreet's board nominees were reelected following a heated battle with an activist shareholder. The $6.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that a majority of shares cast supported Scott Boggs, Douglas Smith and Mark Patterson. HomeStreet said all of its proposals, including a nonbinding measure backing annual votes on executive compensation, passed...
The rolling caravan of outrage at Wells Fargo rumbled into Iowa on Tuesday. Activists descended on the bank’s annual meeting in Des Moines to air a diverse set of grievances to CEO Tim Sloan and board chair Elizabeth “Betsy” Duke. They chastised Wells Fargo for its various consumer scandals, its use of arbitration to settle customer disputes, and its business ties to gun manufacturers, payday lenders, fossil fuel companies and private prison firms...
Wayne Savings Bancshares in Wooster, Ohio, has added an activist investor to its board. The $446 million-asset Wayne said in a press release Friday that Brian Hopkins, a co-founder and principal at Ancora Advisors in Cleveland, had become a director with a term that expires in 2020. Ancora, which owns about 4.9% of Wayne’s stock, has a history of shareholder activism...
Chairman Stephen Sanger had just wrapped up his milquetoast presentation on Wells Fargo's sales-practices woes at the company's annual meeting last April when Bruce Marks, a housing activist and shareholder, jumped up and called on all of the board members to defend themselves. "Tell us what you knew and when you knew it. Were you complicit or incompetent?"...
Don’t expect much to change in the Wells Fargo boardroom — at least not right away — even if shareholders vote for a clean sweep of the board at the annual meeting next week. Wells investors are expected to send a stinging rebuke to the board when they gather for the company’s annual meeting at a luxury beachside resort outside of Jacksonville, Fla., on April 25...
Serving on a bank board isn't what it used to be . Directors today are expected to interact regularly with regulators and shareholders, monitor cybersecurity efforts , plot online and mobile strategies, ensure the right culture by setting the tone at the top , and a whole lot of other things that, even a decade ago, weren't part of the job. Yet the composition of many bank boards hasn't changed all that much...
Banc of California May Allow Activist to Nominate Directors by Joseph Kellard DEC 19, 2016 1:47pm ET Banc of California in Irvine and PL Capital have reached an apparent truce, as the bank agreed to consider letting the activist investor group submit two nominees to next year's board election.
BNY Mellon Names Two Women Execs to Board Bank of New York Mellon has named two women executives from the energy and technology sectors to its board. The $325 billion-asset company on Thursday appointed Linda Cook of EIG Global Energy Partners and Jennifer Morgan of SAP as directors. BNY Mellon expanded its board by two members, to 14 directors, to add Cook and Morgan, it said in a news release...
= Subscriber content; log in or subscribe now to access all American Banker content. U.S. Bancorp's Candor on CEO Succession Puts Low-Key Exec in Focus The Rise and Fall of Bank Coin-Counting Machines It could be a few years before Richard Davis, one of the most well-respected leaders in banking, hands over the reins as chief executive of U.S. Bancorp, but he began preparing the industry for that moment this summer...
Subscriber content; log in or subscribe now to access all American Banker content. Zions Adds Ex-Citigroup CFO to Its Board Banking's Big Sellers Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City on Friday named Gary Crittenden, a former chief financial officer at Citigroup, to its board of directors. Crittenden is currently chairman and managing director at HGGC, a private-equity firm in Palo Alto, Calif. He was CFO at Citi from 2007 through 2009, during the height of the financial crisis.....
Presidio Bank in San Francisco has added longtime California banking executive James Westfall to its board of directors. He will serve on the bank's audit and asset liability committees. Westfall is currently the principal of WALT Systems, a California-based consulting firm he founded that specializes in loan pricing and loan pricing models...
An activist investor is pressuring two directors at Malvern Bancorp in Paoli, Pa., to resign. PL Capital in Naperville, Ill., disclosed in a regulatory filing last week that it wants Joseph Palmer Jr. and John Yerkes Jr. to resign rather than stand for ...
Activist Stilwell to Pursue Board Seat at Baltimore's Fairmount Bancorp. by Paul Davis. DEC 23, 2014 4:38pm ET. Fairmount Bancorp in Baltimore seems poised to face a proxy battle next year from activist investor Joseph Stilwell...
Activist investor Joseph Stilwell is threatening to fight yet another proxy battle against Harvard Illinois Bancorp. To continue, please log in, register or subscribe. Already a subscriber? Log in here. Please note you must now log in with your email address and ...
Joseph Stilwell, an activist investor who has targeted community banks, has been ordered to appear in federal court in New York in connection to a ...
John Gorman is a partner at the Washington law firm of Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick, a faculty member of the National Association of Corporate Directors , and served as a commissioner on the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Leadership...
New York Community Shareholders Reject Executive Pay . by Andy Peters. JUN 9, 2014 9:01am ET. Shareholders at New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) have rejected the company's compensation packages for top executives...
The activist investor is now accusing management of nepotism because Brian Rebhorn, one of the $170 million-asset company's board nominees, is the son of a retiring director. See more of American Banker's People blog. "The younger man's other ...
Retail and consumer financial services veteran Jane J. Thompson has become a member of the VeriFone Systems board of directors , the terminal manufacturer said March 26. Thompson takes a seat vacated by Richard A. McGinn, who had served as interim ...
The banking industry's strong 2013 stock market performance reflects its recovery from the financial crisis. The KBW banking index rose 35% last year while the Standards & Poor's 500 rose by 30%. Nonetheless, the KBW banking index remains 40% below its precrisis peak....
In response to withering criticism by shareholders and investor watchdogs following the London Whale incident, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has finally made additions to its board risk committee. At best, the move amounts to a half-measure intended to put this issue behind the company...
Since 2009, board diversity in U.S. public companies has not moved, with women holding approximately 16% of board seats of Fortune 500 companies, an increase of less than 1%. In other words, there has been no change. Among the lessons of the financial crisis is that entrenched boards may have contributed to the problem. According to a number of studies, board diversity can help guard against "groupthink" which is more likely to occur among cohesive groups lacking social, cultural and ideological