Several years ago, after corporate scandals, bailouts and bankruptcies generated a lot of headlines, Forbes wanted to find a way to celebrate the many corporations that are models of openness and integrity.
They set out to identify the most transparent and trustworthy businesses that trade on American exchanges. To do that, they partnered with GMIRATINGS, formed by the merger of Audit Integrity, an independent financial analytics company in Los Angeles and the Corporate Library and GovernanceMetrics International.'What these companies have in common is what they don’t have: problems that indicate elevated risk,' GMI chairman James A. Kaplan told Forbes. 'Those problems can range from high executive compensation or incentives that are not aligned with shareholder interests to inconsistent application of accounting principles, or the occurrence of negative events.'
GMI uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to assess the true quality of corporate accounting and management practices. According to Forbes, the companies on this list have consistently demonstrated transparent and conservative accounting practices and solid corporate governance and management; and they do not play games with revenue and expense recognition, or with asset valuation.In developing the list, GMI looked at more than 8,000 companies trading on U.S. exchanges. To be on the list, the 100 companies — divided among large, mid, and small cap sizes — all had to have market caps of $250 million or more. Mueller Industries, a manufacturer of copper, brass, plastic, and aluminum products scored 99 out of a possible 100."
-The Wholesaler (link above)