Canadian Publicly Traded Firms
10.1 List Board members.
10.2 Summarize any recent Board changes.
10.3 Provide biographies of Board members.
10.4 What other corporations are Board members associated with? Are they important? Why?
10.5 List any other news items about Board members (social clubs, political activity).
10.6 Summarize which Board members are most vulnerable.
The Board of Directors is the governing body of the firm, and it is important to try to understand its dynamics. Individually board members also have other corporate identities, and it is vital to understand these corporate interlocks and what other kinds of pressure can be brought on the firm. In his seminal work at J.P. Stevens, Ray Rogers used pressure on board members who were also key corporate leaders at Avon and Manufactures Hanover.
The Management Information Circular available from SEDAR is the best place to get information on the Board of Directors.
The System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) is Canada’s on-line, browser-based service for the filing and viewing of insider reports as required by various provincial securities rules and regulations.
Some information may also be contained in the Annual Information Form as well as in the company annual report and on the company web site.
Beyond this basic information, use a Canadian news search and social media to gather more detailed information on board members.
Paid Resources (Requires Subscription)
Factiva allows you to search for news on the board of directors. The Datamonitor Report from Business Source Complete (you will need to select Business Source Complete from the list) also provides some basic information on the Board. Look under “company profiles” for the Datamonitor report.