Idea 10 - Corporate governance America was treated to a peep at the CEO's expense account recently, to discover, among other things, that the boss of American Express was paid $132,000 for personal use of company cars and reimbursed for snacks from the company dining room. Some people were more upset by the snacks than by the car. More of this kind of information is being made public because the US Securities & Exchange Commission has lowered the threshold for disclosure of perks. But executive pay and disclosure are only two of an increasing number of management activities subject to the stern eye of 'corporate governance' Because of the agency problem, shareholders have fretted over good governance for many years. They want to be fairly treated and given a hearing, particularly where there is a big majority shareholder that doesn't always listen to what the 'minorities' want. Ruling cliques or family interests sometimes give themselves more voti