News digest for July 16, 2006

Companies learn value of blogging
“They are suspicious of ‘corporate speak’ and they want it straight from the horse’s mouth,” says John Petter, BT’s chief operating officer. “Especially in a big company they want to know that someone is taking responsibility.”

Lifting the Lid: RadioShack falls silent under new CEO
It’s now Radio Silence at RadioShack. That was the headline on a research note from Raymond James on Friday after the U.S. electronics retailer said it would no longer hold quarterly conference calls to take questions from Wall Street analysts and major investors.

Sarbanes-Oxley Goes Global
Latin American and Asian firms are more receptive. More than 72% of Asian respondents and 81% of Latin Americans think the benefits will exceed the cost, and none would consider delisting. That’s because companies in developing economies “are willing to do anything to achieve credibility with U.S. investors,” says Louis Osmont, a partner with Mazars.

Legislation to Spur Majority Vote
The legislation, which goes into effect Aug. 1, makes clear that director resignation policies–which have been adopted by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and more than 100 other firms–are enforceable under Delaware law. The new law also mandates that directors cannot overturn or alter shareholder-approved bylaw amendments that spell out vote requirements in director elections.

Ta-Da! Cheaper Stock Options!
All told, the value of options granted by businesses in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has tumbled, from $104 billion in 2000 to $30 billion in 2005, according to a new report by Credit Suisse Group (CSR ) analyst David Zion.

New dawn for IR
Advancing technology, falling barriers to globalization, expanded regulation, growing shareholder activism and governance reform are all etching distinct patterns into the evolving IR landscape.

TIAA-CREF Releases Participant Survey on Socially Responsible Investing
The survey sought to examine participants’ attitudes around Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), to gauge their knowledge of and commitment to TIAA-CREF’s SRI strategies, and to inform the company’s SRI strategies moving forward.

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