Should Your Company Take a Stand on Political and Social Issues?
Why Every Day Is Proxy Season for Public Companies
Corporate Law Report - Office Party Holiday Risks, Human Trafficking, the Fiscal Cliff, More
Vinson & Elkins’ Shareholder Activism practice co-heads Lawrence Elbaum and Patrick Gadson will discuss how companies need to prepare against the year round attacks by shareholder activists. In a conversation moderated by...more
On November 17, 2023, the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued new and revised proxy-related compliance and disclosure interpretations ("CDIs") that provide guidance on the...more
Many public companies will be required to include a "say on frequency" proposal at their 2023 annual meeting of stockholders. Since 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act has mandated that public companies submit, no less frequently than...more
On January 24, 2023, Skadden presented the fourth and final part of our 15th Annual Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Update series, “Developments and Trends in Delaware Law: A Review of 2022 and What to Expect...more
Yesterday the SEC approved new proxy rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards by management and shareholders soliciting proxy votes for their candidates in non-exempt director election contests, as well as mandating...more
As expected, the SEC has adopted final rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in shareholder meetings involving non-exempt contested director elections held after August 31, 2022. In addition, certain amendments...more
Considerations for companies planning for next proxy season should include the following: Risk Factors - ..As discussed in our July 13 post, consider current hot topics, including COVID risks, labor market...more
Alston & Bird will host this live seminar from our Atlanta office in addition to a live webcast. Learn about key developments and issues facing companies and investors and what you need to do to prepare for the 2022 proxy...more
While balance sheet proposals saw a slight downturn, COVID-19 and FEFTA appear not to have dampened shareholders' desire to effect change via AGM proposals....more
On October 16, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance (“Corp Fin”) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K (“SLB 14K”) addressing shareholder proposals. This guidance follows Corp...more
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), an influential proxy advisory firm, recently proposed changes to its benchmark voting policies to be applied for upcoming shareholder meetings taking place on or after February...more
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
A review of 2017 proxy season activity, including the trend toward adoptions of proxy access bylaws, is here. A suggestion that the big news of the 2017 proxy season was climate change proposals and the shift in Blackrock,...more
Proxy access predominated corporate governance issues for the 2015 proxy season, with over 100 proposals submitted on the topic, compared to 18 in 2014. Shareholder proponents achieved significant success in 2015, with an...more
Below are some highlights (from my notes) of the PLI Securities Regulation Institute panel discussions Thursday and Friday with the Corp Fin staff (Keith Higgins, Shelley Parratt, David Fredrickson, Michele Anderson, Karen...more
On September 17, 2015, Skadden presented a webinar titled “Proxy Access: Latest Developments.” The panelists were Art Crozier, Chairman of Innisfree M&A Incorporated; Mike Garland, Assistant Comptroller for Corporate...more
Fueled by the controversy during the 2013 proxy season over access to interim vote tallies, “enhanced confidential voting” proposals have been submitted to over a dozen high profile companies for the 2014 proxy season,...more
In yesterday’s post, I discussed why the Council of Institutional Investor’s blanket policy eschewing the counting of abstentions may be neither good nor legal. CII, however, isn’t the only proponent of not counting...more
Most public companies use Broadridge for shareholder voting tasks related to their annual meetings. Due to a new interpretive position being taken by the SEC, Broadridge recently informed its clients of a technical change in...more