Relationships between Directors and Senior Management under Stock Exchange Independence Standards

A recent disclosure by Black & Decker Corp. and a subsequent clarification as a result of a complaint by the New York Stock Exchange provide helpful insight regarding how business, and possibly other, relationships between directors and senior management, may impair a director's independence both for exchange listing standards and other contexts, and may give rise to unwanted publicity. The instance involved a statement that a private business relationship between a director and a member of senior management was not relevant to an independence determination under New York Stock Exchange Rules.

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