As outlined this past week by The Boston Globe, executives and board members at pharmaceutical companies involved in the development of Covid-19 vaccines have been amassing small fortunes during the past few months through the sale of stock they own in those companies -- benefiting from public speculation on the efficacy of such vaccines.  Although legally, on its face, there is nothing wrong with such sales, is it time for the SEC to take a closer look at placing restrictions on stock sales by insiders at pharmaceutical companies?

The Wall Street Journal reported this past week that 4 recent large financial scandals were all previously audited by Ernst & Young -- "While it wasn’t possible to pinpoint why EY has had so many recent audit clients with financial scandals, certain elements of EY’s business strategy might help explain the cluster of blowups. EY had ties with executives and board members at some of its troubled audit clients. In some cases, former EY partners sat on the companies’ boards, including on their audit committees."

Should former Auditors (Partners & Senior Managers of CPA firms) NOT be permitted to serve on ...

Recruiting high-value board members is always a challenge for non-profit organizations -- and this is especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Should non-profits compensate board members as away to attract top talent?

Should all boards have an ad hoc committee addressing Covid-19 -- not only the impact upon the business but also the oversight of re-opening?  If so, what is the appropriate scope of such a committee? 

With Governor Gavin Newsom's signing of Assembly Bill 979 on Wednesday, California became the first state in the nation to mandate corporations to have board members from racial or sexual minorities. Do you believe legislating board diversity is appropriate?

"Overboarding" -- or serving on too many boards, continues to be a problem in corporate governance.  Not only does it potentially stretch a board member too thin in regard to their ability to provide the appropriate attention to a particular board, it also serves as an impediment to board refreshment.  What are appropriate limitations for service on multiple boards?

Should you only accept a board position if you would be willing to one day serve as Non-Executive Chairman of that board?

At what point, if ever, does the failure or misconduct of a CEO (e.g. Dennis Muilenburg at Boeing, or Steve Easterbrook at McDonald's) rise to such a level that the entire board of directors needs to be replaced?   

As board meetings and annual shareholder meetings have now gone virtual in the era of Covid, what, if any, will be the major corporate governance trends to emerge from the pandemic?

The average age of public company directors is now 62 years old.  Should age diversification (i.e. the addition of younger executives and leaders) be taken into consideration by nominating committees when recruiting new directors?

The average size of a corporate board in the U.S. is now 9.2 directors -- and that number has come down during the past decade.  As the decrease in the number of directors serves as an impediment to board refreshment and overall diversification, should NYSE and NASDAQ require a minimum board size (beyond the listing requirement that an Audit Committee have at least 3 members)?

According to a report from Spencer Stuart, 71% of S&P 500 boards have a mandatory retirement age for directors -- and 46% of those set the age at 75 or older. Should the listing requirements from NYSE and NASDAQ require a mandatory board retirement age?

Recent shareholder derivative lawsuits against Facebook, Oracle and Qualcomm raise the following question:  Should directors be held liable for the failure of their companies to diversify their board and executive management teams?

The list of sought-after credentials in board candidates continues to grow -- but in one word, what should be the most important trait in a new board candidate?

A report released earlier this week by Bain & Company, "Covid-19: Is Your Board Hitting the Brakes on CEO Succession?", found that CEO transitions worldwide fell in April and May 2020 compared with same months in 2019. Is it prudent for boards to be reluctant to remove a CEO in a time of crisis? 

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) just appointed current NFL player Larry Fitzgerald to its Board of Directors.  Fitzgerald joins a growing list of athletes and celebrities serving on corporate boards.  Do such board appointments benefit shareholders?

Are there any valid arguments remaining for the use of classified board structures (where director elections are staggered as opposed to annual)?

More than 70% of the S&P 500 now have a mandatory retirement age for board members (the most common age limit being 75)  Should a mandatory board retirement age be seen as a standard of good governance?

A recent editorial on CNN advocated for hourly employees to be represented on Walmart's Board of Directors.  Should corporations have non-executive employees represented on their board of directors?

Do celebrities belong on Boards?  Kering --a French luxury goods behemoth -- announced earlier this week that it had appointed Hollywood actress Emma Watson to its Board of Directors.  Although Watson is also a noted human rights activist, should this diversity of perspective be sufficient for Kering's shareholders?

Glass Lewis just announced it is opposing Liberty Global's $123M pay package for CEO Mike Fries -- noting that it is 4X the average compensation received by other executive officers.  However, despite Glass Lewis' comment that such pay inequity may be an indicator of "serious long-term" problems with company's board-level management and oversight, the proxy advisory firm is only voting against one director for compensation policy concerns.  Shouldn't this scrutiny fall upon all of the board members (regardless of whether or not they serve on the Compensation Committee)?