– A collection of pension funds has demanded that Elon Musk commit to working at least 40 hours a week at electric car maker Tesla, calling for corporate governance reforms to address a ‘crisis’ at the company, according to the Financial Times (paywall).
A letter sent to Tesla’s chair Robyn Denholm and signed by 12 institutional investors, including the New York City Comptroller, the American Federation of Teachers and Denmark’s AkademikerPension, who jointly manage a total of $950 bn in assets, demands Musk’s ‘full-time attention’ on Tesla to address shareholder concerns.
Musk has recently promised to refocus his efforts on the car maker and scale back his role in President Donald Trump’s administration. Though Tesla’s share price has recovered since the announcement, they are still trading 17 percent lower than their peak in December 2024.
– The SEC has voluntarily dropped its civil lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, the New York Times reported (paywall), marking the latest step in the Trump administration’s change of stance on cryptocurrencies.
The SEC said dismissing the enforcement case was appropriate ‘in the exercise of its discretion and as a policy matter’ and did not reflect its view on other cryptocurrency litigation. Its dismissal is with prejudice, meaning the SEC cannot pursue the case again.
In a statement, a Binance spokesperson called the dismissal ‘a landmark moment’ and said the company was ‘deeply grateful’ to SEC chairman Paul Atkins and the Trump administration.
The SEC sued Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao in June 2023, accusing the exchange of artificially inflating trading volumes, diverting customer funds and misleading investors about its surveillance controls.
– A New York federal judge has dismissed several defamation claims made by Spanish healthcare company Grifols against short seller Gotham City Research, though the judge has also found there is enough evidence to proceed with a lawsuit, Reuters reported (paywall).
The Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a request filed by Gotham City to dismiss the lawsuit, finding that there was enough evidence to support that Gotham’s allegations that Grifols failed to disclose a $95 mn loan to Scranton Enterprises, an entity tied to the drugmaker’s founding family, were defamatory.
However, it dismissed the company’s claim of unjust enrichment and illegal interference and said many comments made by Gotham City were expressing no more than non-actionable opinions.
– The sustainable investment group Ceres has called on Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, to support a policy agenda that would promote a ‘cleaner, more resilient and investible economy’ by helping investors assess material financial risks.
The letter encourages Canada’s federal government and policymakers to maintain and strengthen its carbon pricing system, develop a national clean energy strategy and ‘design regulatory reforms and financial tools’ to help serve all parts of the energy industry equally.
Ceres says the move comes after several investors in its network have expressed concerns that recent calls from energy CEOs to remove the industrial price on pollution and the proposed emissions cap may ultimately reinforce economic dependence on legacy sectors, rather than position Canada at the forefront of the energy transition.
– Shareholder resolutions focused on proposals concerning governance-related matters have been gaining ground over environmental and social proposals amid a wider decline in the number of filings made in the 2025 AGM season, IPE reported.
According to Lindsey Stewart, director of stewardship and policy at Morningstar Sustainalytics, the number of shareholder proposals this year looks on track to be lower, following changes in SEC guidance in February.
Bonnie Groves, senior specialist, stewardship and collaboration at the Principles for Responsible Investment, said that filings on governance-focused resolutions have remained steady, with these being the only ones to have received over 50 percent support from independent shareholders so far this proxy season.
– Investors in the Japanese financial institution Nomura Holdings are set to vote on a proposal for the first time in 13 years, as proponents seek to tweak the financial services company’s name, according to Minerva’s ESG blog.
The proposal, filed by a shareholder who is yet to be named, aims to alter the name of the company to Nomura Securities Group. The proponent stated that the name change would help the company return to its founding principles following a scandal last year which has damaged its reputation.
Laurie Havelock
Laurie has been with IR Impact for over a decade, becoming editor in 2023 after roles as a reporter and research editor. He moderates events and serves as MC for global awards. Previously, he was acting business editor at the i newspaper and deputy...
