ESG and SEC Enforcement in 2022
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Advisers Act regulatory agenda
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
Over the last five years, stockholder activism has undergone significant transformation, shaped by changing market conditions, regulatory developments, and evolving societal expectations. Activism has continued to spread...more
Summary of June 2024 Annual General Shareholder Meeting Season Shareholder Proposals - - While the total number of shareholder proposals is comparable to the June 2023 general meeting season, the number of companies...more
ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sunday, January 21, 2024, seeking a declaratory judgment to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement...more
Broadly considered, stockholder activism has been a significant phenomenon among the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues including in the form of...more
In late July 2023, House Republicans on the Financial Services Committee introduced four bills targeting various business and market activities that implicate environmental, social, and governance issues. In a statement...more
In this V&E+ interview, Lawrence and Patrick share their thoughts on the 2023 proxy season, peacetime preparation for activism defense, and the HBO show that no one could seem to stop talking about....more
On February 14, 2023, Georgeson LLC, the shareholder proxy solicitation firm, published an analysis of investor voting decisions in 2022 on certain types of shareholder proposals. In preparing its report, it looked at public...more
The 2023 proxy season is just around the corner. This quick reference guide, which is intended to supplement Shearman & Sterling’s 20th Annual Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey, summarizes themes from the...more
The number of shareholder proposals made by activist shareholders, votes against management proposals and the number of publicly listed companies facing shareholder proposal continues its upward trend....more
On November 15, 2022, Skadden held a webinar titled “Preparing for the 2023 Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Gianna McCarthy, Director of Corporate Governance for the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYS...more
This comprehensive report includes five-year trend data, covering the 2018-2022 proxy seasons, for annual meeting participation, director elections, say-on-pay and other proposals among the technology and life sciences...more
REGULATORY UPDATES - SEC Announces Leadership Changes - Anthony (“Tony”) C. Thompson was appointed to a second term as a board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), which will run until...more
SEC adopts final proxy voting advice rules - On July 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had adopted final rules governing proxy voting advice that, among other things, rescind certain provisions it...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently revisited two proxy-related matters by (a) adopting amendments to the proxy rules governing proxy voting advice and (b) proposing amendments to the shareholder proposal rule in...more
On July 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the shareholder proposal rule.1 The proposed amendments would revise three of the...more
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to take the following actions: Propose new amendments to Rule 14a-8, the shareholder proposal rule. Adopt new amendments to the rules regarding proxy...more
On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) to the proxy rules related to proxy advisory firms and (2) released proposed rules (“Proposed Rules”) regarding the...more
Shareholder Proposal - Rule On July 13, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments to revise three of the substantive bases for exclusion of shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 of...more
The 2022 proxy season is just around the corner. This quick reference guide, which is intended to supplement Shearman & Sterling’s 19th Annual Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey, summarizes themes from the...more
During 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rule changes and provided public companies with useful guidance on various topics. In December, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released its...more
Shareholder activism has been a significant phenomenon amongst the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues. As such activism has continued to grow, it...more
The SEC, in an unusual move, is reconsidering certain significant proxy rules that it adopted just last year. An SEC announcement of Chair Gary Gensler’s rulemaking agenda states that the Division of Corporation Finance “is...more
REGULATORY UPDATES - SEC Leadership Changes - On April 17, 2021, Gary Gensler was sworn into office as the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Gensler served as chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures...more
REGULATORY UPDATES - SEC Adopts Amendments to Exemptive Applications Procedures - On July 6, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced the adoption of rule amendments that establish an expedited...more
As Chairman Jay Clayton’s tenure at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) likely enters its final year — regardless of the outcome of the next presidential election — the SEC remains focused on priorities such as...more