SEC Adopts Say-on-Pay Rules

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On January 25, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted rule changes to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) relating to shareholder approval of executive compensation and “golden parachute” compensation arrangements.

Section 951 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires that companies include a resolution in their proxy statements asking shareholders to approve, in a nonbinding vote, the compensation of their executive officers, as disclosed under Item 402 of Regulation S-K (the “Say-on-Pay” vote). A separate resolution is also required to determine whether this Say-on-Pay vote takes place every one, two, or three years (the “Say-on-Frequency” vote). If any golden parachute compensation has not been approved as part of a Say-on-Pay vote, the Dodd-Frank Act requires that companies solicit shareholder approval of golden parachute compensation through a separate non-binding vote at the meeting where the shareholders are asked to approve a merger or similar extraordinary transaction that would trigger “golden parachute” payments (the “Say-on-Golden Parachute” vote). The Dodd-Frank Act requires that any proxy statement used for soliciting the Say-on-Golden Parachute vote must include clear and simple disclosure of the golden parachute arrangements or understandings and the amounts payable.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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