[HN Gopher] Coinbase Independent Directors Have Close Company Ties
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       Coinbase Independent Directors Have Close Company Ties
        
       Author : gist
       Score  : 100 points
       Date   : 2021-04-05 14:27 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | williamscales wrote:
       | The article does a good job of explaining why Fred Ehrsam is not
       | independent. But it doesn't really give an argument why Fred
       | Wilson shouldn't be considered independent. Given that Fred
       | Wilson is a very successful investor, having him working to
       | protect investors interests seems somewhat reasonable?
       | 
       | Perhaps I misread the situation however.
        
       | tuxxy wrote:
       | Yeah, so?
        
         | marc__1 wrote:
         | A company cannot identify an independent board member randomly.
         | There are laws for that as well:
         | 
         | e.g. * When determining whether the members of a committee of
         | the board of directors are independent, the registrant's
         | definition of independence that it uses for determining if the
         | members of that specific committee are independent in
         | compliance with the independence standards applicable for the
         | members of the specific committee in the listing standards of
         | the national securities exchange or inter-dealer quotation
         | system that the registrant uses for determining if a majority
         | of the board of directors are independent. If the registrant
         | does not have independence standards for a committee, the
         | independence standards for that specific committee in the
         | listing standards of the national securities exchange or inter-
         | dealer quotation system that the registrant uses for
         | determining if a majority of the board of directors are
         | independent.*
         | 
         | https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/17/229.407
        
         | acdha wrote:
         | You know how defensive proponents get when critics of
         | cryptocurrencies say the space is risky and full of scams? This
         | kind of scrutiny is normal in the business world, especially
         | when trying to raise money on the stock market where there are
         | rules and regulations about accurately disclosing information
         | to potential investors.
         | 
         | You appear to be invested in the space so ask yourself whether
         | reflexively blowing off routine financial reporting helps or
         | hurts that "full of grifters" reputation.
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | jaytaylor wrote:
       | https://archive.is/cxCBk
        
       | jimmyed wrote:
       | Hmm, dunno why but this feels like the cancel cult mob going
       | after Coinbase.
        
       | hammock wrote:
       | How different is this from other companies' practices?
        
       | sgpl wrote:
       | I think the two board members mentioned definitely fail the
       | "Independent" test but in the grand scheme of things at least
       | Fred Wilson as a VC has a basket of other companies that he/his
       | firm own shares in so he's not as materially invested as Fred
       | Ehrsam is (not condoning Coinbase labelling either as
       | independent, just adding some colour to the discussion).
       | 
       | Unfortunately companies do this a lot, and even companies that
       | are in the public eye. I think I read somewhere (Damodaran's
       | blog) that when Disney was being run by Michael Eisner, half the
       | board was insiders and some of the independent directors included
       | the CEO's personal attorney, his kid's school teacher, etc.
        
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       (page generated 2021-04-05 23:02 UTC)