On January 6, 2017, the SEC Staff granted no-action relief that would allow companies to exclude shareholder proposals preventing management or the board from accessing preliminary voting results on uncontested matters prior...more
The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued three additional responses to company no-action requests to exclude shareholder-proposed amendments to proxy access bylaw...more
Recent SEC responses to no-action requests involving shareholder proposals seeking initial adoption of a proxy access bylaw confirm that the SEC staff is continuing to evaluate company requests to exclude these proposals from...more
On October 22, 2015, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released the highly anticipated Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14H (SLB 14H) concerning...more
Corp Fin today posted Staff Legal Bulletin 14H providing guidance on two key issues regarding shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8: - the scope and application of Rule 14a-8(i)(9) (the exclusion for conflicting...more
Rhonda Brauer is a senior managing director of corporate governance at Georgeson Inc. where she helps companies enhance their shareholder communications and analyze their governance practices. She recently joined Latham &...more
Improving the proxy process remains front and center at the SEC and continues to garner media headlines. A recent high-profile example was this past proxy season’s focus on proxy access shareholder proposals, including the...more
During the week of April 26, 2015, 8-Ks were filed that disclosed two shareholder sponsored proxy access proposals passed and two failed. All required three percent ownership for three years and all were opposed by the...more
Earlier this month, the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee devoted part of its agenda to the topic of proxy access and the much debated Rule 14a-8(i)(9), which permits companies to exclude shareholder proposals from their...more
On January 16, 2015, the SEC withdrew its December 1, 2014 no-action letter in which it concurred with the view of Whole Foods Market, Inc. that the company was entitled under SEC Rule 14a-8(i)(9) to exclude from its proxy...more
Yesterday, ISS issued long-awaited FAQs regarding its policy with respect to shareholder proposals for proxy access and its position on exclusion of shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8(i)(9). ...more
Readers may recall that last December Whole Foods Market, Inc. had secured the SEC staff’s concurrence in excluding a shareholder access proposal submitted by Jim McRitchie. Then, SEC Chair Mary Jo White directed the staff...more
On February 10, 2015, Keith Higgins, Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance, provided his informal views (available here) on the Division’s controversial decision to “express no views” on the application of...more
On January 16, 2015, SEC Chair Mary Jo White issued a directive that the staff of the SEC review its position on Rule 14a-8(i)(9) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). Concurrent with SEC Chair White’s...more
On January 16, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White announced that she has directed the SEC’s staff (Staff) to review Rule 14a-8(i)(9) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which allows an...more
The SEC Division of Corporation Finance recently informed public companies that it will express no views on the application of Rule 14a-8(i)(9) during the current proxy season. The Corp Fin decision leaves public companies...more