Best Buy, GE headline corporate governance awards

Corporate Secretary, the sister publication of IR Magazine, has announced the winners of the Corporate Governance Awards 2013, the prestigious and highly coveted awards recognizing excellence in governance, risk and compliance for companies across North America.

This year’s winners include household names such as Best Buy, GE, Krispy Kreme, H&R Block, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo and Zillow, to name just a few. For the full list of award categories and winners, please see below. To view the full list of nominees and the process by which they were chosen, please click here.

‘There are lots of rankings and awards for boards and directors. By contrast, these awards celebrate the corporate secretaries, general counsel and other governance officers toiling behind the scenes. The other 364 days of the year they work in the shadow of senior management and directors. Today they take a well-deserved bow,’ says Neil Stewart, editorial & research director of Corporate Secretary.

Corporate Secretary’s Corporate Governance Awards celebrate the best efforts of individuals, teams and companies in the world of governance, risk and compliance.

This year, more than 100 nominations were received for the 14 award categories. These were then reviewed by a panel of judges including a former SEC commissioner and a former chairman of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals.

Corporate Governance Awards 2013 winners

Rising star
ConocoPhillips – Shannon Weinberg

Most innovative CSR disclosure policy
Life Technologies

Best use of technology by a corporate secretary or GC
Zillow

Best proxy statement (small to mid-cap)
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Best proxy statement (large cap)
General Electric

Best overall legal team for governance
Best Buy

Best overall governance, compliance & ethics program (small to mid-cap)
CMS Energy

Best overall governance, compliance & ethics program (large cap)
PepsiCo

Corporate governance team of the year (small to mid-cap)
H&R Block

Corporate governance team of the year (large cap)
Best Buy

Governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap)
ACADEMI – Suzanne Folsom

Governance professional of the year (large cap)
Johnson & Johnson – Doug Chia

Best overall corporate governance – international
BCE

Lifetime achievement
William Crane – former chairman, Georgeson

Award sponsors
American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, Broadridge, Center for Audit Quality, Computershare Georgeson, Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries, Diligent Board Member Services, EMC Corporation, Ernst & Young, GE, Innisfree, MacKenzie Partners, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Merrill Corporation, Monsanto, National Association of Corporate Directors, Okapi Partners, RR Donnelley, Wells Fargo