In the News
Corporate Governance | Public Relations (PR) | Investor Relations (IR)
On occasion, I’ve been quoted in PR industry and business/financial media. Below is compilation of noteworthy articles. To receive updates via email, subscribe to LJ-Pro.
For The Black Sea State of Georgia, There's Economic Life Post-Russia
By Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes - October 6, 2016
Ukraine take note. This might be how you do it.
Of the three ex-Soviet countries facing territorial disputes with the Russians, which include Moldova and Ukraine, Georgia is in the best shape by far. Some people say that what recent government's did to Georgia post-Soviet Union was like what Rudolph Giuliani did to 42nd Street. Okay, an over-simplification by local Georgians here in the U.S.. But over the last four years, nearly 500,000 people rose above the national poverty line, according to the World Bank.
In May, celebrity chef and world traveling foodie Anthony Bourdain visit put Georgia on the map for most Americans who, when thinking of Georgia, are thinking Atlanta.
In between wolfing down shots of grappa-style liquor known as chacha, Bourdain didn't miss a chance to take pop shots at the Russians. His takeaway, though, was predictable if not glowing: Georgian food is great. The country is beautiful. Viewers should visit.
Lev Janashvili, a colleague of mine from Georgia who lives in New York says Bourdain got one thing wrong. “Bourdain is crazy not to like our hangover broth,” he says of this thing called ‘khashi’. “It’s not a dish…like Georgia, it’s an experience.”
Admitting Guilt or Heftier Fines? The SEC’s Call
By Allen Wastler, CNBC - June 22, 2013
You see, historically when that agency catches a company doing something wrong … be it bending some numbers or fibbing to investors … it tends to force them into a settlement agreement. The company pays a fine but doesn’t have to admit wrongdoing.
The SEC has tended to like this setup because it makes it easier to enforce the law, collect fines and move on. No messy tedious trials that take time, lawyers and resources. The offending companies like it because they don’t have to publicly declare guilt, which would set them up for private lawsuits by victims.
“Compelling companies to admit guilt as a condition of a settlement may help prevent fraud. The approach may be helpful, but probably grossly insufficient,” said Lev Janashvili, managing director of GMI Ratings, a group that follows corporate governance issues, in a statement to CNBC.
Herbalife investors meet -- briefly
By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times - April 26, 2013
“The whole purpose of the meeting obviously is to allow shareholders to raise questions and to give the company an opportunity to respond,” said Lev Janashvili, managing director at research firm GMI Ratings. “The decision not to take questions and respond fully because you’re in the quiet period certainly doesn’t add up.”
Quiet periods are intended to prevent companies from giving important tips to a small number of favored investors, Janashvili said. They are not intended to interfere with annual meetings, which are open to all shareholders, he said.
And even if a company mistakenly thinks it’s limited by a quiet period, there’s an easy solution, Janashvili said: Don’t schedule the annual gathering during a quiet period.
GE Board Members’ Seats at Risk
By Tim Catts, Bloomberg - February 21, 2013
“Over time, relationships among board members get more intertwined and more complex,” Lev Janashvili, managing director at corporate-governance researcher GMI Ratings, said in an interview. “Independence is not an honorific distinction that cannot be removed once conferred.”
All Becoming Clear?
By Anna Snider, Governance Intelligence - March 31, 2010
Another important issue is that of how to evaluate directors already in place. Some in the corporate governance community have put forward the idea of a board perception study, similar to an investor perception study, with a focus on board performance. Kane says she can see this happening as part of the shift from directors being behind-the-scenes advisers to being highly accountable public figures. ‘All of this is coming,’ she predicts. ‘I’m not seeing a lot of it, but it’s coming.’
Lev Janashvili, senior vice president of investor relations and financial communications firm the IGB Group, says he likes the idea of using perception research more methodically to assess board performance. ‘I hope the idea gains broader acceptance, but I think it would be premature to view it as an inevitability,’ he says. ‘Likewise, I see the potential for the broader use of perception research by boards of directors to assess the performance of senior management.’
Janashvili says it is currently rare to ask questions in a survey about specific directors or to get comments unprompted, although overall governance is an increasing point of investor concern. Topics broached include share structure, board independence, compensation practices and poison pills. Brian Rivel, president of Rivel Research Group, also says he hasn’t seen a huge call for board-specific questions, yet his firm did a recent investor perception study entirely devoted to a single corporate governance issue: executive compensation.
Ruder Finn Veteran Launches IR Consulting Firm
By Paul Holmes, Provoke Media - January 10, 2003
Lev Janashvili, a veteran of Ruder Finn’s investor relations and capital markets group, has launched LJ Consultants, a management consulting firm offering investor relations and public relations services. The firm recently also announced its first retainer client: Network Associates, a leading provider of network security technology.
Pulling Together
By Gwen Moran, IR Magazine - February 28, 2009
Internal concerns tend to erupt first. Lev Janashvili, vice president of financial communications for global PR firm Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, says a top concern, especially among the people at the acquired company, is whether their jobs will be intact after the transition. This is a situation he experienced when his role as the IRO at Juno Online Services was eliminated in its merger with NetZero.
Any merger can be complicated by an ensuing power play. ‘The acquiring company has to minimize the hubris that so often accompanies a takeover,’ says Janashvili. ‘The IR department of the company being acquired will have diminished control and has to learn to let go. The more professional you are throughout this process, the more likely it will be, by the end of the process, that you’ll secure a position with the new team if it needs more talent.’