On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act), which includes significant changes to the executive compensation deduction rules in Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code)...more
1/5/2018
/ CEOs ,
CFOs ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 16 ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Trump Administration
On December 13, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion, In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Case No. 169, holding that, except under limited circumstances, the court will not apply the...more
12/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Equity Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Reversal ,
Self-Interest ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Standard of Review
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for their 2018 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of key corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters on which...more
12/4/2017
/ Annual Meeting ,
Auditors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
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
11/21/2017
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Director Compensation ,
Diversity ,
Executive Compensation ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Gap ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Pledges ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On November 16, 2017, the House of Representatives voted to approve its version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the bill following the Thanksgiving break, which would require a...more
11/20/2017
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
CEOs ,
CFOs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Severance Pay ,
Stock Options ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
The November 6, 2017, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady’s Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (originally proposed November 2, 2017) (the “Chairman’s...more
If enacted, the newly proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would effectively put an end to many of the most widely used forms of executive compensation:
- Deferred compensation and stock options would disappear.
- Use of...more
11/3/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Performance Incentives ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Severance Pay ,
Stock Options ,
Tax Cuts ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released the results of its annual global benchmark voting policy survey on September 25, 2017. In a surprise result, the survey found that nearly 75 percent of the 131 investor...more
On September 21, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretive release on the pay ratio disclosure requirements in Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, and the staff of the Division of Corporation...more
The Trump administration’s proposed overhaul of the federal income tax system includes a reduction of the maximum federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. If enacted, the proposal — a one-page outline...more
6/20/2017
/ Corporate Taxes ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employer Contributions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Performance Incentives ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deferral ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
On June 8, 2017, the House of Representatives passed, by a 233-186 vote (with all Democrats and one Republican voting against), the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017, a bill principally designed to reverse many features of the...more
6/12/2017
/ Clawbacks ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial CHOICE Act ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Repeal ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Trump Administration