There's never a shortage of areas of governance risk. One month it's Section 404. The next it's options backdating. And just when there's finally a calm, questions over executive compensation rear their ugly heads. The board wants answers, regulators knock on the door and shareholders threaten to sue. In the middle of this fury is the general counsel, the person everyone goes to when things hit the fan.

Because new compliance issues seem to pop up every month, it helps to stay ahead of trends in corporate governance. Thankfully the “Corporate Governance Blog” helps do just that. The site, which is run by Institutional Shareholder Services–a provider of proxy voting and corporate governance solutions–compiles regulatory information from various news outlets and posts insights about emerging governance trends, proxy voting, environmental issues and other compliance considerations.

“We launched the blog in February 2006 to facilitate dialogue around key corporate governance matters and to provide useful information about trends and other current events taking place throughout the industry,” says Sarah Cohn, director of communications for ISS.

Recent posts on the blog, which is updated three or four times a week, tackle proposed legislation to allow shareholder input on executive pay, the SEC chairman's plan to alter the way companies negotiate fines and shareholders' increased concern with corporate America's role in global climate change.