The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved mandatory “universal proxy” on November 17, 2021. The final rules will apply to contested director elections at shareholder meetings held after August 31, 2022. The...more
The staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued new Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations (116.11 & 133.13) encouraging public companies to provide details on how they consider diversity when making...more
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
On February 6, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission released two Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (CDIs) discussing disclosure requirements in instances where a director or board nominee self-identifies...more
Last week, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the SEC Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released new compliance and disclosure interpretations (116.11 and 133.13) (the New C&DIs), which...more
A universal proxy may benefit public companies in certain contested director elections, but the ability to use this tool may depend on a company’s bylaws. Key Points - ..In contested director elections, the binary...more
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS - SEC Proposes Amendments to Whistleblower Award Program - On June 28, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to its whistleblower award process for the first...more
2016 saw many notable developments in corporate governance litigation and related regulatory developments. In this article, we discuss significant judicial and regulatory developments in the following areas: Mergers...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
On October 26, 2016, the SEC proposed amendments to the proxy rules that would require the use of universal proxies in all non-exempt solicitations in contested elections of directors. The focus of the SEC proposal is to...more
On October 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the proxy rules (the “Proposal”) that would mandate the use of universal proxy cards in non-exempt proxy solicitations for contested...more
At an open meeting held on October 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted two to one to propose amendments for the mandatory use of universal proxy cards and additional voting options and disclosure...more
With Congress and the Presidency soon to be under Republican control, it would not be surprising, unless the SEC acted with unusual speed, if the universal proxy rules never went into effect. Commissioner Piwowar, a...more
At its October 26th open meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose amendments to the proxy rules which would require the use of a universal proxy card in a contested election of directors. If adopted,...more
On October 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the proxy rules to require parties in contested elections to use universal proxy cards that would include the names of all board of...more
On October 26, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed changes to the proxy rules to require the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections. Universal proxy cards would permit shareholders...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in a 2-1 vote1, proposed amendments on October 26, 2016 to the proxy rules that would require public companies to include director candidates nominated by a dissident shareholder...more
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
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
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