Directors appointed by strategic and corporate venture investors (CVC directors) face a unique set of challenges when attempting to resolve their fiduciary duties to the portfolio companies at which they serve as directors...more
In 2019, the Delaware courts issued a broad range of important decisions addressing various corporate law and governance issues—including board compensation, controlling stockholder conflicts, board oversight obligations, M&A...more
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2020 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of key corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters on which we...more
On July 25, 2019, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a stockholder suit challenging the $18 billion merger of equals between Towers Watson & Co. and Willis Group Holdings plc,...more
On June 13, 2019, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery largely denied a motion to dismiss a derivative action for breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment against directors and...more
On May 31, 2019, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision refusing to dismiss a stockholder's fiduciary duty claims challenging the compensation of Goldman Sachs' board of directors.1...more
The following is an update to an important Delaware case relating to the applicable standard of review for challenged actions involving the setting of director compensation. ...more
I’ve written a number of articles and blogs about some sticky issues that can surface in the context of setting pay for public company non-employee directors... On March 6th the parties to the In re Investors Bancorp, Inc....more
In 2018, the Delaware courts issued a broad range of important decisions addressing various corporate law and governance issues. Those decisions are relevant for public and private companies and will help shape...more
I’ve stressed how important it is for public company executives and directors to stay apprised of developments in the director pay area, including developments/settlements of director pay lawsuits. Earlier this summer, the...more
We have previously encouraged our readers to focus on the size of their director pay packages and the processes their boards undertake in setting director compensation. Prior focus on these issues was recommended largely as a...more
Compensation-related litigation and threats of litigation continued to significantly impact public companies in 2017. These companies should be mindful of issues that were raised in recent litigation: proxy disclosure,...more
• The Delaware Supreme Court delivered a gift to the plaintiffs' bar with its recent opinion reversing the Court of Chancery's In Re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation decision. • This decision, the first...more
• Directors were not entitled to stockholder ratification defense where stockholders only approved the general parameters of director and employee bonuses • This marks the first time in nearly 60 years that Delaware’s...more
Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently announced updates to its U.S. proxy voting guidelines for the 2018 proxy season. Although the updates are not likely to have a significant impact on 2018...more
This year ISS conducted two surveys. One was a high-level survey covering a small number of fundamental and high-profile topics. We reported the results here. ISS has now announced the results of a second, more expansive...more
Dear clients and friends, We present our traditional year-end issue of Snell & Wilmer’s Corporate Communicator to help you prepare for the upcoming annual report and proxy season. This issue highlights SEC reporting and...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co (Glass Lewis) have both released their updates to their respective Canadian proxy voting guidelines for the upcoming 2017 proxy season. The ISS updates apply to...more
Understanding the basics of board service is a necessary first step for those interested in joining a board of directors. In part one of this three-part series, we shared insights from Sheila Ronning, CEO and founder of Women...more
New Nasdaq Rule 5250(b)(3) is a result of increased activist shareholder efforts to place representatives on public company boards of directors. During the past several years, activist shareholders have sought to nominate...more
Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) approved NASDAQ’s new Rule 5250(b)(3), which requires NASDAQ-listed companies to publicly disclose any cash or non-cash payments made by third parties to any...more
On July 1, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) approved, on an accelerated basis, proposed amendments to the listing rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) to require Nasdaq-listed companies to...more
A group of CEOs of major public companies and institutional investors, including Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffett, Larry Fink, Mary Barra and Jeff Immelt, among others, have developed a list of “commonsense corporate governance...more
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) has adopted a new rule that will require each Nasdaq-listed company to publicly disclose compensation or other payments by third parties to any current director or nominee for director in...more
As we previously reported here, on January 28, 2016, the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC proposed a change to its Listing Rules that, if implemented, would have required NASDAQ-listed companies to publicly disclose so-called “golden...more