沃爾瑪和摩根大通忽視股東釀大禍

無獨有偶

????除了沃爾瑪之外，摩根大通去年也沒有注意股東針對該公司風險委員會發出的警報。在一封2011年3月18日寄出的信中，CtW投資集團常務董事比爾?帕特森向摩根大通董事會警告，摩根大通的風險監管存在“嚴重缺陷”，并表示董事會不應該被“CEO杰米?戴蒙頭上積累的贊美之辭”蒙蔽了。

????在去年四月的一次會議上，摩根大通董事會風險委員會主席詹姆斯?克勞恩充分表達了他對摩根大通應對經濟危機的方式的信心——這是CtW投資集團高級政策分析師邁克爾?普萊斯?瓊斯告訴我的，他也參加了那次會議。另外克勞恩還在會上表示，他對摩根大通的風險官巴里?朱布羅有充分的信心。摩根大通的風險偏好聲明就是克勞恩與朱布羅共同執筆的。根據普萊斯?瓊斯的會議記錄，克勞恩還質問股東們，讓一個外部顧問審核公司的做法能有什么好處。“如果你的公司里已經有了最聰明的人，為什么還要從別人那獲得信息呢？”據普萊斯?瓊斯說，這就是克勞恩的基本態度。摩根大通拒絕對此事發表評論。

????并不是所有企業的董事會都認同外部顧問能給自己帶來好處。但在那些卓有成效的董事會里，獨立董事們往往都承認，如果他們只是簡單地向內部看，不一定會知道所有的事。股東們有時會成為董事會成員的最好盟友，他們能就一些問題向董事會發出警報，而這些問題往往是董事會通過其它方法無法發現的。

????眼下又到了董事會換屆的時候，各企業的董事會都在討論如何才能改善與公司股東的關系，以及如何能從投資人那里獲得更多的第一手經驗，以擴大他們的視野。沃爾瑪和摩根大通的例子就是很好的警示：如果股東們不停地敲你的門，那么董事會成員們應該聽聽他們說些什么。

????本文作者Eleanor Bloxham是董事會咨詢機構價值聯盟與企業管理聯盟（The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance）的CEO。

????譯者：樸成奎

Wal-Mart is not alone

????J.P. Morgan's board also failed to heed warnings from shareholders about its risk committee last year. In a letter dated March 18, 2011, Bill Patterson, executive director of CtW Investment group, warned the bank's board of "serious deficiencies" related to its risk oversight, saying the board should not be lulled by "the praise heaped on CEO Jamie Dimon."

????James Crown, who led the board's risk committee, expressed full confidence in the bank's handling of the financial crisis in a meeting last April, Michael Pryce-Jones, senior policy analyst at CtW Investement Group, who had attended the meeting told me. Crown also expressed full confidence in J.P. Morgan's risk officer Barry Zubrow, with whom he effectively co-authored the bank's risk appetite statement. Crown also questioned the benefits to shareholders of having an outside advisor review its practices according to Pryce-Jones' notes from the meeting. "When you have the smartest people in the business, why get information from anyone else?" was the general attitude Crown expressed, according to Pryce-Jones. J.P. Morgan declined to offer comment for this story.

????Not all boards yet recognize the benefits, but independent directors on effective boards recognize that they will not know everything they need to if they simply look inward for guidance. Shareholders can be board members' best allies when it comes to alerting to troubles directors may not otherwise see.

????Among stronger boards of directors this proxy season, directors are holding discussions on how they can improve companies' shareholder relationships and how they can get more first-hand experience with investors to gain their insights. The Wal-Mart and J.P. Morgan cases are clear-cut: when shareholders keep knocking, it behooves board members to listen.

????Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com), a board advisory firm.