Shareholder proposal rule
Class Action Trends – Interview with Stephen Gulotta, Managing Member, Mintz Levin's New York Office
Last year, I reported that the stockholders of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. had failed to approve a proposal to convert the corporation from a Delaware to a Nevada corporation. The company has not given up on the...more
Three days after Delaware’s governor, Matt Meyer, signed into law controversial amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law, another publicly traded company filed preliminary proxy materials with the Securities and...more
The proxy statement has become an integral component of a public company’s preparation for its annual meeting of shareholders. The rules and regulations under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act),...more
Item 402(x) of Regulation S-K, introduced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 14, 2022, and effective for 2024 proxy statements, requires that public companies disclose detailed information about...more
On February 12, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M (SLB 14M) setting forth staff guidance on shareholder proposals submitted...more
In our earlier blog post, we discussed Staff Legal Bulletin 14M (SLB 14M), which rescinded prior Staff Legal Bulletin 14L (SLB 14L). The staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicated that SLB 14M is...more
As most public companies know, shareholder outreach is often an important part of the playbook when a company is seeking approval of compensation-related proposals at an annual meeting. A company may engage with shareholders...more
On February 12, 2025, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) issued new guidance that should provide additional leeway for public companies to exclude...more
In one of its first actions under the new Administration, the SEC staff issued new guidance that largely reinstated older guidance that had supported the ability of public companies to exclude shareholder proposals from their...more
Our Securities Group examines the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new guidance on the “economic relevance” and “ordinary business” exclusions for shareholder proposals....more
On February 12, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M (SLB 14M) concerning shareholder proposals for public company proxy...more
Sure, it’s important to know that Corp Fin recently issued three new CDIs and updated two existing CDIs regarding Notices of Exempt Solicitations (also known as “PX14A6G” filings)....more
In anticipation of the upcoming reporting season, this Update highlights some of the most significant rule changes, guidance, institutional investor areas of focus, and trends for public companies to consider while preparing...more
Join Bass, Berry & Sims and leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) along with corporate and securities thought leaders for the next installment of our ESG Impact Webinar series. As public companies prepare for...more
You might recall that, in 2023, the National Center for Public Policy Research submitted a shareholder proposal to The Kroger Co., which operates supermarkets, regarding the omission of consideration of “viewpoint” and...more
Public companies can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now, that the Securities and Exchange Commission's 14a-8 regulatory process for excluding shareholder proposals remains intact....more
Last week, the SEC announced settled charges against James R. Craigie, a former CEO, Chair and board member of Church & Dwight Co. Inc., an NYSE-listed “manufacturer of consumer-packaged goods,” for “violating proxy...more
Last week, at the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee meeting, the Committee discussed two topics described as “pain points” for investors: tracing in §11 litigation and shareholder proposals. In the discussion of §11 and...more
In Maso Cap. Invs. Ltd. v. E-House (China) Holdings Ltd., No. 22-355 (2d Cir. June 10, 2024), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a putative securities-fraud...more
Last year, we reviewed proxy statements filed by companies in the Silicon Valley 150 (SV150) to see whether they included an officer exculpation proposal in their proxy statements for stockholder meetings held from August 1,...more
Both investors and companies are maturing in how they view critical issues raised at the corporate ballot box. Even amid a proxy season that included “the priciest shareholder fight ever,” according to The Wall Street...more
In January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, the two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it may exclude their...more
Following other recent decisions addressing the applicability and scope of Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”), including In re Match Group Inc., Derivative Litigation and Tornetta v. Musk, on May 1, 2024, the Delaware...more
When we last checked in on the ExxonMobil litigation against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This—in which Exxon sought a declaratory judgment that it may exclude the two defendants’ proposal from its 2024 annual meeting proxy...more
You may recall that, in January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, the two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it...more