Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), an influential proxy advisory firm, has launched its annual policy survey to inform its benchmark voting policies for 2020 and beyond. In an effort to streamline the process, ISS...more
7/26/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Directors ,
Diversity ,
Institutional Investors ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Multi-Class Shares ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Surveys
When finalizing proxy materials for annual shareholder meetings, companies should consider the following U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and related SEC staff guidance, as well as stock exchange listing...more
3/8/2019
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Diversity ,
EDGAR ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
Hedging ,
Listing Rules ,
Listing Standards ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Materials ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Say on Frequency Votes ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Smaller Reporting Companies
On February 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission published new interpretive guidance regarding board diversity disclosures, which should be considered when preparing...more
2/13/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Director Nominations ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
New Guidance ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualification Standards ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Woman Board Members
On October 23, 2018, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14J (SLB 14J), which provides important guidance concerning shareholder...more
10/25/2018
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Executive Compensation ,
Micromanagement ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Relief ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On July 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a concept release soliciting public comment on ways to modernize Rule 701 and Form S-8 of the Securities Act of 1933 to account for recent developments...more
8/3/2018
/ Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Stock Purchase Rights ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Statements ,
Form S-8 ,
Offerings ,
Private Offerings ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Rule 701 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solicitation ,
Stock Options ,
Threshold Requirements
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
11/21/2017
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Director Compensation ,
Diversity ,
Executive Compensation ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Gap ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Pledges ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
The so-called “short-swing profit rule” under Securities Exchange Act Section 16(b) generally prohibits officers and directors as well as 10 percent shareholders of a U.S. public company from profiting from any purchase or...more
Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2017 annual meeting and reporting season. Once again, we have prepared a checklist of essential areas on which we believe companies should focus as they plan for the...more
12/8/2016
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Audit Committee ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Governance ,
Director Nominations ,
Diversity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Resource Extraction ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On October 26, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 2-to-1 to propose amendments to the proxy rules that would require the use of universal proxy cards in contested elections. The proposed changes, if...more
10/28/2016
/ Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Contested Elections ,
Director Nominations ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Materials ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy Cards
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recently issued its U.S. voting policy guidelines for the 2016 proxy season. The guidelines include a few key changes, a summary of which is outlined below.
Conflicting Shareholder...more
11/23/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Conflicting Proposals ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Director Nominations ,
Exclusive Forum ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently took several important steps to facilitate smaller securities offerings. First, it adopted final rules for the new Securities Act exemption for securities-based...more
11/5/2015
/ Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Raising ,
Corporate Officers ,
Crowdfunding ,
Exemptions ,
Funding Portal ,
JOBS Act ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Public Offerings ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulation D ,
Residency Requirements ,
Rule 147 ,
Rule 501 ,
Rule 504 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision on April 14, 2015 that reversed a U.S. District Court opinion and vacated a permanent injunction that would have required Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to include a...more
4/16/2015
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Proxy Statements ,
Reversal ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Wal-Mart
In This Issue:
- Incorporate lessons from 2013 say-on-pay results
- Prepare for new Form SD (Specialized Disclosure) filing requirements
- Ensure compliance with revised listing standards related to compensation...more
12/10/2013
/ Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Compensation Committee ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form SD ,
Forum Selection ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Pay Ratio ,
PCAOB ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders
A board’s decision as to whether, when and how to terminate the employment of a CEO and hire a successor is among the most critical decisions facing the board of any company — large or small, public or private, established or...more