In today’s world of a 24/7 news cycle and social media platforms that amplify news globally at lightning speed, management and boards need to be prepared to manage the fallout from a corporate crisis. This event brings together unparalleled insights and best practices from leading experts in corporate communication, risk management, corporate governance, regulation and strategic planning.
S&C Litigation partner Robert Giuffra and Marc Treviño, the co-head of our corporate governance practice, joined industry leaders at DirectorCorps’s and Nasdaq’s Avoiding The Corporate Crisis event on December 3. This exclusive one-day event at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City focused on how boards and management can create effective corporate crisis management plans.
Robert Giuffra: Managing the Volkswagen Emissions Crisis
Bob Giuffra joined David Detweiler, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., to discuss how Volkswagen found itself facing regulatory investigations into its diesel-emissions tests and how it embraced the opportunity to learn from the experience and protect shareholder value.
Bob currently serves as the National Coordinating Counsel for Volkswagen in its diesel-related matters and is lead counsel to Fiat Chrysler in its emissions issues. Bob has represented clients in litigation and government investigations arising out of the financial crisis, the bankruptcy of Enron, the restructuring of MBIA, the accounting fraud at HealthSouth Corporation, and specialist trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Marc Treviño: Avoiding Compensation Issues That Can Lead to a Crisis
On this panel, Marc Treviño discussed issues related to press coverage of executive compensation amid an increased focus on income disparities. Marc is the co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s corporate governance practice, the managing partner of its executive compensation group, and a founding member of its financial institutions group. Marc is a recognized leader in structuring and counseling senior executives and boards in significant matters involving reputation, overlapping regulatory regimes, fiduciary conflicts and multiple jurisdictions, with a particular emphasis on matters involving financial institutions. Marc teaches Corporate Crisis Management at Yale Law School and is a co-author of “The Public Company Deskbook” (The Practising Law Institute), which Fortune hailed as “the bible for securities lawyers.”
At Sullivan & Cromwell, we draw on our unparalleled experience across practices, industries and regions to provide comprehensive advice on anticipating, managing and resolving corporate crises in all their dimensions. Our broad, commercially astute perspective helps clients under stress process and prioritize complicated legal, business, legislative, public relations and shareholder relations issues and resolve these problems as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
Bob and Marc spoke at two panels at the event. Bob spoke on “Managing the Volkswagen Emissions Crisis,” discussing how Volkswagen found itself facing a regulatory investigation over its diesel-emissions tests and how it has embraced the opportunity to learn from the experience and protect shareholder value. Marc spoke on “Avoiding Compensation Issues That Can Lead To A Crisis,” discussing the conversations surrounding income inequality and executive and board pay.