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Shareholders Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Shareholder Proposals

KPMG Board Leadership Center (BLC)

Learning by proxy - Highlights and trends from the 2024 proxy season

Both investors and companies are maturing in how they view critical issues raised at the corporate ballot box. Even amid a proxy season that included “the priciest shareholder fight ever,” according to The Wall Street...more

Woodruff Sawyer

The Plaintiffs' Bar’s Shiny New Object Loses Its Luster: Advance Notice Bylaw Provisions

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In 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules that made it easier for shareholders, including activists who may not have the company’s long-term interests in mind, to put dissident directors on a...more

Cooley LLP

Court calls a halt to Exxon case against Arjuna

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In January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, the two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it may exclude their...more

Cooley LLP

Exxon court challenge to Arjuna shareholder proposal survives dismissal

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You may recall that, in January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, the two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Preparing for the 2024 Proxy Season

As we enter the 2024 proxy season, public companies should consider a number of key disclosure and governance matters. Below is a high-level summary of applicable rule changes, guidance, and disclosure considerations for the...more

Cooley LLP

Does shareholder primacy mean just maximizing profits—and what does Exxon have to do with it?

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As you know, the shareholder primacy theory is widely attributed to the Chicago school of economists, beginning in the 1970s, with economist Milton Friedman famously arguing that the only “social responsibility of business is...more

Cooley LLP

Temperature drops on Exxon litigation over shareholder climate proposal—or does it?

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You remember that, in January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it may...more

Cooley LLP

Exxon employs “direct-to-court” strategy for shareholder proposal. Will others do the same?

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Back in 2014, a few companies, facing shareholder proposals from the prolific shareholder-proposal activist, John Chevedden, and his associates, adopted a “direct-to-court” strategy, bypassing the standard SEC no-action...more

Troutman Pepper

SEC Releases New Guidance on Tailored Shareholder Reports

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On January 19, 2024, the Division of Investment Management staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), released several responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to the adoption of rules and form...more

Cooley LLP

ISS and Glass Lewis Update 2024 Proxy Voting Policies

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Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the two most influential proxy advisory firms, recently released updates to their voting policies for the 2024 proxy season. The ISS US policy update will apply for...more

Fenwick & West LLP

2023 Proxy Season Results in Silicon Valley and Large Companies Nationwide

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Broadly considered, stockholder activism has been a significant phenomenon among the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues including in the form of...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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Changes in the Market and the Emergence of New Players Together Are Impacting Activism

Despite a slowdown in M&A activity and macroeconomic headwinds, stockholder activism remains a potentially powerful tool for investors aiming to extract value from companies. The activism landscape continues to evolve as new...more

Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives

Shareholder Proposal Rule Speech by SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda

The SEC’s shareholder proposal rule was the subject of a speech by SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda on June 21, 2023 at the national conference of the Society for Corporate Governance. The speech identifies troubling trends...more

Cooley LLP

Commissioner Uyeda addresses shareholder proposal overload—is “private ordering” the answer?

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On Wednesday, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda spoke to the Society for Corporate Governance 2023 National Conference on the topic of shareholder proposals under rule 14a-8, a topic on which, historically, the commissioners’...more

Cooley LLP

NAM seeks to challenge Rule 14a-8 regulatory process for shareholder proposals

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You might recall that this past proxy season witnessed a significant number of shareholder proposals related to ESG—from both sides of the aisle. (See this PubCo post.) One of those proposals was submitted by the National...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Preparing for the 2023 Shareholder Proposal Season

On November 15, 2022, Skadden held a webinar titled “Preparing for the 2023 Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Gianna McCarthy, Director of Corporate Governance for the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYS...more

Cooley LLP

ESG Ratings: Considerations in Advance of Proxy Season

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As companies prepare for the 2023 proxy season, their ESG performance, as evaluated and rated by various third-party ratings providers, is a key focus. With the growing importance of ESG to institutional investors,...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

Cooley LLP

Public Companies Update – August One-Minute Reads

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SEC adopts final proxy voting advice rules - On July 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had adopted final rules governing proxy voting advice that, among other things, rescind certain provisions it...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

SEC Proposes Revisions to Shareholder Proposal Rules

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Summary - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month proposed revisions to Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), which require companies subject to the federal proxy...more

Alston & Bird

SEC Proposes Changes to the Shareholder Proposals Requirements in Rule 14a-8

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Our Securities Group discusses how the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed changes to Rule 14a-8 would restrict companies’ ability to rely on the rule to exclude shareholder proposals....more

Cooley LLP

More prescriptive proposals, less support for 2022 proxy season

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This proxy season, companies saw more shareholder proposals than in the past, a change that has been widely attributed to actions by the SEC and its Division of Corporation Finance that had the effect of making exclusion of...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Revisiting Shareholder Proposal Exclusions

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On July 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments (the “Proposed Amendments”) to Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which would revise...more

WilmerHale

SEC Revisits Shareholder Proposal Rule

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The Securities and Exchange Commission recently revisited two proxy-related matters by (a) adopting amendments to the proxy rules governing proxy voting advice and (b) proposing amendments to the shareholder proposal rule in...more

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