Shareholder proposal rule
As we previously addressed here, on February 12, 2025, the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance published Staff Legal Bulletin 14M (“SLB 14M”). Among other things, SLB 14M...more
SEC Issues New Guidance on Exclusion of Shareholder Proposals - Since the beginning of the year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance staff (Corp Fin Staff) has issued several...more
Public companies are revisiting their disclosures to keep up with recent EOs and SEC developments this proxy season....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In our earlier blog post, we discussed Staff Legal Bulletin 14M (SLB 14M), which rescinded prior Staff Legal Bulletin 14L (SLB 14L).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
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
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, 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
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
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
As we enter the 2024 proxy season, public companies should consider a number of key disclosure and governance matters. Below is a high-level summary of applicable rule changes, guidance, and disclosure considerations for the...more
As you know, the shareholder primacy theory is widely attributed to the Chicago school of economists, beginning in the 1970s, with economist Milton Friedman famously arguing that the only “social responsibility of business is...more
You remember that, in January, ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against Arjuna Capital, LLC and Follow This, two proponents of a climate-related shareholder proposal submitted to Exxon, seeking a declaratory judgment that it may...more
Pursuant to rules that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued in late 2022, publicly traded companies must generally provide both tabular and narrative and/or graphical disclosure of the relationship between...more
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in shareholder proposals that target a public company’s ESG commitments, including diversity and inclusion data, environmental or emission programs, and community engagement....more
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters are now the subject of significantly greater regulatory scrutiny and are becoming a more prominent part of public companies’ mandatory filings, shareholder proposals, and...more
On July 14, 2022, the SEC voted 3-2 to propose a rule adopting amendments to Rule 14a-8 (the Proposed Amendments), which requires companies subject to the federal proxy rules to include certain shareholder proposals in...more
On July 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rule changes that would make it harder for reporting companies to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy statement by narrowing certain existing...more
Our Securities Group discusses how the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed changes to Rule 14a-8 would restrict companies’ ability to rely on the rule to exclude shareholder proposals....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 that revise three of the thirteen existing bases for the exclusion of shareholder proposals from a publicly traded company’s proxy statement...more
On July 13, 2022, by a 3-2 party-line vote, the SEC proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 to modify three of the existing bases for the exclusion of shareholder proposals from a company’s proxy statement, namely: ,,The...more
On July 13, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a proposed rule that would amend 17 CFR 240.14a-8 (Rule 14a-8) to revise three of the bases for excluding shareholder proposals from a company’s proxy...more
On July 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed revisions to Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to amend certain substantive bases on which U.S. public companies can exclude...more