On August 18, the Securities and Exchange Commission provided notice that at an open meeting on August 25, the Commission will consider whether to adopt changes to the federal proxy and other rules to facilitate director nominations by shareholders.

In June 2009, the SEC proposed proxy access rules, but delayed adopting them pending confirmation, in the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, of its power to implement such rules. Speculation with respect to the new rules centers primarily around the percentage and duration of ownership necessary to require the company to include the stockholder’s nominees in the company’s proxy statement and whether there will be some relief for smaller public companies.