Shareholder proposals submitted for 2024 annual meetings continued to cover a wide range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics. And companies seeking to exclude shareholder proposals they deemed inappropriate...more
This edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights looks at the latest trends in shareholder activism, the scrutiny companies are facing over their ESG disclosures and employment considerations for using AI in the workplace, among...more
BUSY FOURTH QUARTER FOR SEC STAFF - During the fourth quarter of 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission reopened the comment period for its controversial compensation clawback rule that it initially proposed in 2015...more
Quick Hitters - On December 15, 2021, the SEC (i) proposed amendments to address “potentially abusive practices” by corporate insiders related to 10b5-1 trading arrangements, grants of options and other similar equity...more
In November, 2021 the SEC Division of Corporation Finance announced it had rescinded Staff Legal Bulletin (“SLBs”) Nos. 14I, 14J and 14K after a review of staff experience applying the guidance in them. Apparently as a...more
On November 3 the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued Staff Legal Bulletin 14L (SLB 14L) to provide new guidance on the application of the “ordinary business” and “economic relevance” exceptions to a public company’s...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff (“staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L which reverses a series of...more
In October 2019, for the third consecutive year, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance concerning companies’ ability to exclude...more
The Situation: Late last year, a shareholder sued NorthWestern Corporation ("NWE") to compel the company to include a climate-change related proposal in its 2020 proxy materials after NWE had notified the staff of the...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued rule updates and guidance in 2019 that are intended to simplify certain public reporting requirements, clarify the staff’s expectations with respect to no-action relief...more
On November 14, 2019, Skadden held a webinar titled “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season” with panelists Amy Borrus, Deputy Director of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII); Marc Lindsay, Senior Strategist,...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several important recent updates regarding shareholder proposals and the related no-action request process for companies to consider ahead of the 2019-2020 proxy...more
On October 16, 2019, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin (SLB) No. 14K providing guidance on Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange...more
It’s been a busy late summer and early fall for the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the Staff) as it relates to shareholder proposals and the Staff’s historical involvement in the no-action process related to...more
This newsletter discusses noteworthy updates, key regulatory decisions and upcoming compliance reminders. In this edition, we review: ...SEC Changes Approach to Shareholder Proposal No-Action Requests ...SEC Issues...more
On October 16 the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K (CF) (SLB 14K) to provide updated guidance on the application of the "ordinary business" exception to a company's obligation under...more
In the third quarter of 2019, the SEC Staff announced major changes to the standard no-action request review and response process relating to shareholder proposals. In addition, the SEC expanded the availability of...more
On September 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a statement regarding no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals under Exchange Act Rule...more
On September 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Division) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced1 a significant change to its process with respect to reviewing no-action requests submitted to...more
In November 2017, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance concerning companies’ ability to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy...more
The Division of Corporation Finance published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14J (CF) in order to provide guidance on issues arising under Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act. ...more
Apple sought to exclude a shareholder proposal regarding the establishment of a Human Rights Committee on the basis that it involved the company’s ordinary business operations under Rule 14a-8(i)(7)....more