Although it may seem early, it is already time to start preparing for the 2024 proxy and annual report season. Additional time may be required this year because of the substantial scope and pace of relevant changes in law and...more
Executive Summary -
On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted, by a 3-to-2 vote, amendments (the “Amendments”)1 to its existing rules (the “Existing Rules”) regarding disclosures...more
On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) unanimously adopted amendments (the “amendments”) to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and related disclosure...more
With the calendar just turning to autumn, the proxy and annual reporting season may seem a long way off. However, in light of the amount of work and planning that goes into the proxy statement, annual report, and annual...more
On August 25, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted a “pay versus performance” rule in accordance with a Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DoddFrank Act) mandate that...more
9/1/2022
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Shareholder Proposal -
Rule On July 13, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments to revise three of the substantive bases for exclusion of shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 of...more
7/18/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On November 17, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted mandatory universal proxy rules that will apply for all contested director elections, which it had previously proposed in 2016. Under the final...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L (SLB 14L), providing information regarding the...more
11/9/2021
/ Corporate Governance ,
New Guidance ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rule 14a-8(i)(7) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
Once again, it is time to prepare for the proxy and annual report season. There are many issues to take into consideration when crafting required regulatory disclosures in a manner that conveys effective messaging to the...more
9/27/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Meetings
On November 19, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued its recent efforts to modernize and simplify certain financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K by amending Item 303 of Regulation S-K...more
Preparations are key to a successful proxy and annual report season, and autumn is not too early to begin. While work on proxy statements, annual reports and annual meetings typically kicks into high gear in the winter,...more
10/1/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On September 23, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Rule 14a-8 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Rule 14a-8). The SEC initially proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8...more
On August 26, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the...more
On January 30, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided guidance (MD&A Guidance) regarding the disclosure of key performance indicators and metrics used in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of...more
2/5/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Omissions ,
Performance Standards ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
With the 2020 proxy and annual reporting season upon us, this Legal Update provides 10 tips for companies to consider when drafting annual reports on Form 10-K and proxy statements for filing with the US Securities and...more
1/21/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
Hedging ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Libor ,
MD&A Statements ,
Median Employee ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Technology ,
UK Brexit
On October 16, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K to provide additional guidance on shareholder proposals submitted pursuant to Rule...more