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Corporate Governance No-Action Letters

Venable LLP

Protecting Closed-End Investment Companies under Maryland Law

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Closed-end investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), have proven to be a product sought by many investors, especially individuals. Despite their appeal to long-term...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Shareholder Proposal No-Action Requests in the 2023 Proxy Season: Companies Continue To Face a Challenging Environment

Following a tumultuous 2022 shareholder proposal no-action letter season, the 2023 season contained fewer surprises from the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission...more

WilmerHale

Shareholder Focus on Reproductive Rights Post-Dobbs

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Companies are responding in a myriad of ways to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), including by expanding healthcare travel benefits to reduce barriers to accessing care in...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

SEC Proposes Amendments to the Shareholder Proposal Rules

On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by a 3-2 vote, proposed amendments to the proxy rules that would narrow certain grounds under which companies may exclude shareholder proposals from their...more

Goodwin

ESG Shareholder Proposals Will be More Difficult to Exclude After SEC Staff Interpretive Reversal

Goodwin on

On November 3, 2021, the staff (“staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L which reverses a series of...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Shareholder Proposal No-Action Requests in the 2021 Proxy Season: Dearth of No-Action Response Letters Leaves Companies Guessing

As calendar year-end companies received shareholder proposals for their 2021 annual meetings, they faced a variety of uncertainties and challenges, including navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the racial inequities...more

Goodwin

ISS Publishes 2021 Proxy Voting Guidelines

Goodwin on

In the News. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) published its proxy voting guidelines updates for 2021, which include new and updated voting recommendations on federal forum and exclusive forum provisions in companies’...more

Jones Day

Court Ruling May Shift the Contours of Shareholder Proposal Litigation Under Rule 14a-8

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The Situation: Late last year, a shareholder sued NorthWestern Corporation ("NWE") to compel the company to include a climate-change related proposal in its 2020 proxy materials after NWE had notified the staff of the...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Did You Remember These Developments for the 2020 SEC Reporting Season?

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Preparations for annual reporting on Form 10-K and the 2020 proxy season have begun in earnest for many companies. We have summarized certain governance and disclosure developments that should be considered in the course of...more

Perkins Coie

Preparing for the 2020 Public Company Reporting Season

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued rule updates and guidance in 2019 that are intended to simplify certain public reporting requirements, clarify the staff’s expectations with respect to no-action relief...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Corp Fin Updates Procedures for Rule 14a-8 No-Action Requests and Posts No-Action Responses Chart

On November 21, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided additional detail regarding how it would process responses to Rule 14a-8 no-action requests to...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest, Featuring Articles on a Number of SEC Proposals Related to Shareholders and Proxy Voting...

SEC/CORPORATE - SEC Proposes New Amendments to Modernize Shareholder Proposal Rules - On November 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose amendments to Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange of 1934...more

Perkins Coie

SEC Staff Provides Additional Guidance on Shareholder Proposals

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several important recent updates regarding shareholder proposals and the related no-action request process for companies to consider ahead of the 2019-2020 proxy...more

Alston & Bird

SEC Provides Guidance on Shareholder Proposals

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Ordinarily, companies can exclude shareholder proposals that deal with the ordinary course of business. Our Securities Group analyzes new Securities and Exchange Commission guidance that expounds on what “ordinary” and...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

SEC Staff Policy Change on 14a-8 Process; May Choose to Respond Orally Rather than in Writing

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

It’s been a busy late summer and early fall for the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the Staff) as it relates to shareholder proposals and the Staff’s historical involvement in the no-action process related to...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Observations and Recommendations on the SEC’s Recent Process Changes for Excluding Shareholder Proposals

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Earlier this month, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that its staff may respond orally instead of in writing to some shareholder proposal no-action requests, beginning with the 2019-2020 proxy season. ...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest, Featuring Articles on SEC's Changes to Rule 14a-8 No-Action Request Process, FINRA's Call for...

SEC/CORPORATE - SEC Staff Announces Changes to Rule 14a-8 No-Action Request Process - On September 6, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced...more

Benesch

SEC Update for Upcoming Proxy Season – Changes to Rule 14a-8 No-Action Request Response Process

Benesch on

On September 6, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) announced changes to how the Division provides responses under the Rule 14a-8 no-action request process. As...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Revamps Administration of No-Action Requests Under Rule 14a-8 Regarding Shareholder...

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Changes May Create New Challenges for Public Companies, and Signal a Reduction of the SEC Staff’s Traditional Role As Arbiter Between Companies and Shareholders - On September 6, 2019, the SEC's Division of Corporation...more

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog

SEC Announces New Position on Shareholder Proposals

The SEC published this statement announcing a new position on requests for no action letters to exclude shareholder proposals: After the recent proxy and shareholder proposal season, the Division considered whether...more

Jones Day

Our Perspective: SEC Should Truly Take "No Action" on Rule 14a-8 Shareholder Proposal Requests

Jones Day on

The Background: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("the SEC") has announced that it may no longer review no-action letter requests relating to shareholder proposals submitted to companies under Rule 14a-8. The SEC...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

2019 Proxy Season Update: Shareholder Proposal Trends

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In the United States, the process by which shareholders submit proposals to be voted on at a company’s annual meeting has long been a mechanism used to promote often obscure special interests and social issues. In recent...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: What is the SEC’s current end game on proxy advisory firms—guidance or regulation?

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The newest SEC Commissioner, Elad Roisman, who has reportedly gotten the nod to head up the SEC’s efforts regarding proxy advisory firms, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in late March that he expects the SEC to issue new...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest, Featuring Articles on the SEC's New Framework for Cryptocurrencies and Fresh Guidance From...

BROKER-DEALER - Nasdaq Proposes Rule Change to SEC to Assume Operational Responsibility for Certain Investigation and Enforcement Functions Currently Performed by FINRA - On April 3, the Securities and Exchange...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: Micromanagement? Significant policy issue? Staff no-action letters address Rule 14a-8(i)(7) exclusion

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What seems to be the Rule 14a-8 exclusion du jour? My vote goes to Rule 14a-8(i)(7), the “ordinary business” exclusion—sort of a perpetual home renovation project for the staff. As you may recall, in Staff Legal Bulletins...more

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