Ketchum Creates Advisory Board to Offer Best-in-Class Client Counsel on Corporate Governance Issues

NEW YORK, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Significant changes to corporate governance in the U.S. – touching areas such as SEC reporting rules, New York Stock Exchange broker discretionary voting and proxy access – and the promise of new regulations in the coming year, frame the backdrop for the launch of the Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board. The board is composed of a diverse group of experienced industry experts.

With the formation of this board with leaders from securities law, academia, and shareholder and investor relations, Ketchum will be uniquely positioned to provide valuable counsel and strategic approaches to its clients on emerging regulatory issues surrounding the profound changes impacting investor communications.

"The changes to corporate governance laws require companies to make a number of changes to their business practices, including the way they communicate and share information," said Raymond L. Kotcher, senior partner and CEO, Ketchum. "By partnering with this extraordinary group of experts, Ketchum will be even better positioned to counsel its corporate clients on new regulations and the importance of transparent communications. The members of the newly formed Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board represent some of the industry's leading voices in the rapidly changing shareholder rights landscape, and we are thrilled at the possibilities and client benefits that this partnership creates."

The Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board is composed of experts in financial risk management, governance, executive compensation, shareholder rights and proxy access. Board members include Jerry Burgdoerfer, partner in Jenner & Block's Chicago office, a member of its Corporate Department, and co-chair of its Securities Practice; Sophie L'Helias, principal of L'Helias LLC Strategic Governance Service; Fred Marquardt, senior managing director of Morrow & Co. LLC; Bill Ultan, senior managing director of Morrow & Co. LLC; Kurt Stocker, member of the SEC Investor Advisory Board and member of the Financial Industry Regulation Authority, and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Regulation and chairman of the NYSE Individual Investors Advisory Committee; and Lou Thompson, former president and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute and a former assistant White House press secretary during the Ford administration.*

"As a response to the financial crisis and longer-term activism from a wide range of stakeholders, we are seeing corporate governance rules change in some fundamental, yet crucial ways," said Stocker. "As we witness the ever-increasing emphasis on transparency and shareholder rights, I am very pleased to join such an esteemed group of advisory board members and to partner with Ketchum to help their clients and partners understand and adapt to this new environment."  

The Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board initiative is led by Ron Culp, Ketchum partner and director of the North American Corporate Practice that is aligned with the agency's Global Corporate Practice. The overall practice provides clients with a full arsenal of communication solutions that include community and government relations, public affairs, issues and crisis management, financial communications, change management counsel, influencer and media relations, strategic planning, research, and online engagement.

About Ketchum

A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global communications consultancies and leads the industry in the U.K. and continental Europe as Ketchum Pleon. With five global practices – Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology – and specialty capabilities that include Access Communications (high- and consumer-tech PR), Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), MMG (clinical trial recruitment), Ketchum Global Research Network, Ketchum Sports & Entertainment, and Ketchum Pleon Change (change management and workplace communications), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communication expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.  

*Note to Editors: Please see below for more complete biographies of the Ketchum Corporate Governance Advisory Board members.

• Jerry Burgdoerfer is a partner in the Chicago office of Jenner & Block, a leading firm in the area of corporate transactions and counseling, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, securities, finance, private equity, real estate, tax, environmental, insurance, commercial law, technology, intellectual property, bankruptcy and reorganization, labor and employment, executive compensation, government contracts, internal corporate investigations and litigation. He serves as a member of the firm's Corporate Department and co-chair of its Securities Practice. He regularly advises company boards and board committees on fiduciary duty and corporate governance issues. Burgdoerfer is a past chair of the Securities Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. He serves on the American Bar Association's Federal Regulation of Securities Subcommittees on Disclosure and Continuous Reporting and Proxy Statements and Business Combinations.
• Sophie L'Helias, a 15-year investor activist veteran, has extensive global experience with activist campaigns, investors, stakeholders and corporate governance experts. She leads L'Helias LLC, which has developed tools that identify, uncover and assess investor and stakeholder risk that trigger investor or stakeholder activism; and anticipate activist investor and stakeholder strategies. L'Helias was managing director of an activist global hedge fund and a founding member of the International Corporate Governance Network, and she was an M&A attorney in the U.S. and Europe.  
• Fred Marquardt is a senior managing director of Morrow & Co. LLC, a full-service firm providing a broad range of shareholder services including proxy solicitation, shareholder identification, strategic stock surveillance, corporate governance consultation, and voting projections. He has more than 30 years of experience, providing corporate governance consulting, proxy solicitation and advisory services for companies in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He is a frequent speaker at law firms, corporate management groups, board committees, and professional organizations on corporate governance and proxy issues, and he is a member of the International Corporate Governance Network.
• Kurt Stocker, a member of the SEC Investor Advisory Board and the New York Stock Exchange Regulation, is chairman of the NYSE Individual Investors Advisory Committee. He has been elected to the board of the Financial Industry Regulation Authority, following the merger of the NASD and portions of the NYSER, and is an associate professor at Northwestern University. Stocker formerly was chief corporate relations officer for Continental Bank Corporation; senior vice president of corporate communications for United Airlines; and a senior vice president for Hill & Knowlton.
• Lou Thompson is former president and chief executive officer of the National Investor Relations Institute and a former assistant White House press secretary during the Ford administration. He was managing director of Kalorama Partners LLC, a business consulting firm, and a partner at Genesis Inc., a Denver investor relations and strategic positioning consulting firm. Thompson also is a published author on a range of issues related to corporate governance and risk management and monthly columnist for Compliance Week Magazine.
• Bill Ultan is a senior managing director of Morrow & Co. LLC, a full-service firm providing a broad range of shareholder services including proxy solicitation, shareholder identification, strategic stock surveillance, corporate governance consultation, and voting projections. He advises a wide range of corporate issuers on compensation and governance issues, and also has extensive experience working on proxy fights, tender offers, and other corporate control matters. He previously was a senior member of the firm's Stock Surveillance and Proxy Solicitation departments. He has made frequent presentations to law firms and industry groups, including the International Merger and Acquisition Conference sponsored by the University of Miami Law School, as well as to the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals (both the national conference and specific chapters) and the National Investor Relations Institute (chapters). Ultan is a graduate of Connecticut College and resides in New York.

SOURCE Ketchum