Shareholder proposal rule
Introduction - The 2026 proxy season is expected to bring meaningful developments that have the potential to reshape how companies approach the proxy process. From the continued reversing of the pendulum regarding...more
Following up on Part 1 of this blog that explains what a “preliminary proxy” is – and the first two common mistakes made with them – here are three more common mistakes (as well as a bonus note):...more
With the partial federal government shutdown likely to close the SEC for only a day or two – see this new set of Corp Fin FAQs on the impact of a shutdown, which is essentially the same as the guidance from the last shutdown;...more
Last month, I blogged several times about what ISS changed in its proxy voting guidelines for this proxy season. Now, ISS has updated its three sets of FAQs – consisting of Non-Compensation FAQs; Executive Compensation FAQs;...more
Following up on last week’s blog about the stats on this: Ahead of this proxy season, Corp Fin issued this statement saying that it wouldn’t respond to no-action requests – at least until September 30, 2026 – unless a company...more
While the pace of amendments and rule changes from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slowed in 2025 with the change in presidential administration and the appointment of new SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins...more
Since Inauguration Day in January 2025, the new administration has in various ways publicly trumpeted the advisability of reversing numerous environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies that many governmental and...more
As companies gear up for 2026, what happens at the SEC could smooth the path for public capital raising efforts. However, with “lessons learned” from the government-wide shutdown still fresh in our memories – and becoming...more
Here’s the video archive (free registration required) for the recent webcast – “Hot Governance and Engagement Proxy Tips You Need to Know” – during which Cooley’s Beth Sasfai, Michael Mencher and Broc Romanek – as well as...more
On November 17, 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance announced that it will not respond to no-action requests by companies to exclude shareholder proposals for the 2026 proxy...more
On 17 November 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance (the Division) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued a statement announcing that it will not respond to or express views on most no-action...more
Wilson Sonsini’s 2025 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report reviews the corporate governance practices and disclosures of Silicon Valley’s largest public companies. The report includes information regarding board...more
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance recently issued a statement (the “Statement”) that, for the current proxy season, it will not respond to no-action requests for, and express no views on, companies’ exclusion of...more
Cooley just released its first “Post-IPO Governance Trends Report,” an in-depth look at how newly public companies structure their governance profiles in the years following their initial public offerings (IPOs)....more
The SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance (the Division) announced on Nov. 17 that it is pausing substantive review of no-action requests concerning the exclusion of shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act of...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has announced that, for the 2025–2026 proxy season, it will not provide substantive responses to company no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8,...more
In a landmark change, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has announced that it will not provide substantive responses or express views on most no-action requests for shareholder proposal exclusions “due to current...more
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has determined that, until at least September 30, 2026, it will not respond to requests by issuers for no-action relief for their decisions to exclude shareholder proposals from proxy...more
Here’s an excerpt from this Cooley Alert about last week’s Corp Fin statement saying that it won’t respond to no-action requests – at least until September 30, 2026 – unless a company is seeking relief under Rule...more
On November 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that it will no longer be responding substantively to Rule 14a-8 no-action requests, unless the request relates to whether a proposal is...more
On November 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance announced that it will largely stop issuing staff responses to Rule 14a-8 no-action requests for the 2025–26 proxy...more
On November 17, 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that it would significantly curtail its review of no-action submission requests for the upcoming...more
On November 17, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced a major shift in how the SEC Staff handles requests to exclude shareholder proposals. ...more
On November 17, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that they would no longer respond to no-action requests, and would no longer express views on, a public company’s...more
On November 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the SEC or “Commission”) Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) issued a statement announcing that the Staff will largely suspend its practice of...more