Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2016 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of essential areas we believe companies should focus on as they plan for 2016, including...more
12/12/2015
/ Annual Meeting ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
PCAOB ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
The Executive Compensation and Benefits Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is pleased to provide you with this second edition of its Compensation Committee Handbook. This edition reflects developments in...more
12/10/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Compensation Committee ,
Directors ,
Employment Contract ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recently issued its U.S. voting policy guidelines for the 2016 proxy season. The guidelines include a few key changes, a summary of which is outlined below.
Conflicting Shareholder...more
11/23/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Conflicting Proposals ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Director Nominations ,
Exclusive Forum ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
On August 5, 2015, in a 3-2 vote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules implementing the controversial “CEO pay ratio” disclosure requirements that were proposed in 2013 and mandated by...more
On July 1, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued long-awaited proposed rules that would implement the incentive-based compensation recovery (clawback) provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform...more
A Delaware court opinion issued late last week may subject equity grants to directors to increased judicial scrutiny (Calma v. Templeton, No. 9579-CB (Del. Ch. Apr. 30, 2015)). In Calma, the Chancery Court denied the...more
5/6/2015
/ Director Compensation ,
Directors ,
Equity Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Grants ,
Heightened Scrutiny ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Restricted Stocks ,
Shareholders ,
Standard of Review ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Waste
On April 29, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules that would require companies to disclose the relationship between the compensation actually paid to named executive officers (NEOs) and...more
As part of its ongoing rollout of its 2015 policy updates, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has issued “Frequently Asked Questions” guidance with respect to both its 2015 Compensation Policies and its new equity plan...more
As our clients and friends once again embark on preparations for their 2015 annual meeting and reporting season, we have compiled a checklist of the corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters that we...more
12/9/2014
/ Annual Meeting ,
Bylaws ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
Since the adoption of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, employers and practitioners have wondered when and how the IRS would enforce it. With the recent IRS announcement of an audit initiative with respect to Section...more
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-Mich.) has proposed a draft tax reform plan (the Proposal) containing sweeping changes to the Internal Revenue Code (the Code), including a number of major executive...more
In This Issue:
- Incorporate lessons from 2013 say-on-pay results
- Prepare for new Form SD (Specialized Disclosure) filing requirements
- Ensure compliance with revised listing standards related to compensation...more
12/10/2013
/ Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Compensation Committee ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form SD ,
Forum Selection ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Pay Ratio ,
PCAOB ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders
In a rare piece of good news relating to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, on October 4, 2013, California reduced its additional state tax on income failing to comply with Section 409A from 20 percent to 5 percent....more
The SEC has proposed rules to implement the “CEO pay ratio” disclosure requirements under Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The proposed rules would require many SEC reporting companies to publicly disclose the...more
The SEC, by a 3-2 vote, proposed rules to implement the “CEO pay-ratio” disclosure requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed rules would require certain SEC reporting companies to publicly disclose...more
As the 2013 proxy season heads into its final weeks, we are continuing to monitor say-on-pay vote results and supplemental filing trends, as well as the most recent waves of proxy-related litigation, and have the following...more
A board’s decision as to whether, when and how to terminate the employment of a CEO and hire a successor is among the most critical decisions facing the board of any company — large or small, public or private, established or...more
Early Lessons From the 2013 Proxy Season -
As Skadden monitors the initial weeks of the 2013 proxy season, we are seeing the following preliminary trends:
Vote Results -
Of the first 279 companies of the...more
On April 1, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations providing guidance on the $500,000 deduction limit for compensation paid by certain health insurance companies to their employees. Because of the...more
As companies prepare for the 2013 annual meeting and reporting season, we have compiled an overview of the corporate governance and disclosure matters that companies should consider as they draft this season’s disclosure...more
2/19/2013
/ Annual Meeting ,
Audits ,
Compensation Committee ,
Compensation Consultant ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
Hedging ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act ,
Listing Standards ,
PCAOB ,
Political Contributions ,
Proxy Season ,
Resource Extraction ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved new New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) listing requirements relating to compensation committees of listed companies. The listing...more
As the 2013 proxy season is now underway, companies should be aware of the recent wave of lawsuits alleging breaches of fiduciary duties by management and directors in connection with compensation-related decisions. These...more
1/17/2013
/ Annual Meeting ,
Certificates of Incorporation ,
Compensation Committee ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Managers ,
Proxy Season ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Litigation
New ISS Peer Group Methodology -
One of the most controversial issues during the 2012 proxy season was the degree to which the peer groups chosen by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) varied from the peer groups...more
Private equity funds (PE funds) and their advisors long have been concerned that a fund (or its other portfolio companies) may be liable for unfunded pension plan liabilities of one of its portfolio companies. However, in a...more
Tax rates for highly compensated individuals will increase in 2013, perhaps substantially. This is due in part to:
- Possible expiration in 2013 of the Bush tax cuts, resulting in increases in the highest marginal tax...more