Combined and Dual Roles of Chair and CEO and Independent
Governance Report
Research in Motion Limited ("RIM") filed a minimalist
and non-substantive 8 page report of the Independent Governance
Review Committee of its board of directors ("Independent
Governance Report") dated January 30, 2012, on its
website.1 As if RIM did not wish it to be noticed, there
was no customary press release announcing the publication of the
Independent Governance Report, nor was the report filed on SEDAR.
In fact, when it was issued, the Independent Governance Report was
already mute, having been superseded by earlier decisions taken by
Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie over Christmas in December 2011.
These decisions of Lazaridis and Balsillie were made without
pressure from the RIM board, but following very strongly expressed
external displeasure from shareholders and the investment
community. Just before the Independent Governance Report was
released, Lazaridis and Balsillie formally
