Commentary by Christian Brunnstrom, research analyst, ESG & impact investing

Titan Medical's corporate governance and leadership is in the spotlight after the Canadian medical-device company said that it no longer complied with the Nasdaq listing qualifications that require a majority of a company's board members and audit committee members to be independent. Following the recent resignation of Heather Knight, one of its independent directors, only two of the company's four board members are independent. Titan Medical's board is unusually small, as the average S&P 500 board has 11 directors and more than 80% independent directors, according to FactSet data. Ms. Knight's resignation also meant a drop in gender equity on Titan Medical's board from 40% to 25%, lower than the 30% average female representation on the S&P 500, the data shows. Titan Medical has been given up to February 2024, or before the first week of August this year if the company holds its next annual shareholder meeting before then, to comply with the Nasdaq rules for independent board and audit committee members. In addition, Titan Medical announced several senior leadership changes on Tuesday, laying off four vice presidents. The company's governance and leadership is likely to stay on investors' radar for the time being.

Write to Christian Brunnstrom at christian.brunnstrom@wsj.com

ESG Insights are written by WSJ Pro Research analysts, whose commentary is independent of the news coverage by reporters at the Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2023 05:20 ET (10:20 GMT)

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