On October 4, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission exercised its discretion to grant a stay of its controversial new proxy access rules and related amendments that were scheduled to take effect on November 15, 2010. As we previously blogged (see our posts here and here), the SEC’s disputed proxy access rules would grant shareholders who have held three percent (3%) of the outstanding stock of a company for at least three (3) years the right to include a limited number of director nominees in the company's proxy statement. For many companies, the stay could effectively delay implementation of the new proxy access rules for the upcoming 2011 proxy season. The order granting the stay can be found here (see article below for link).
Background
As we previously blogged (see blog post here), on September 29, 2010, Business Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States filed a Petition for Review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the legality of the SEC's new proxy access rules. In connection with the Petition for Review, Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed with the SEC a motion to stay the effect of newly adopted Rule 14a-11 and associated amendments pending such review.
Please see full publication below for more information.