ISS and Glass Lewis generally publish changes to their proxy voting policies around this time of year. Glass Lewis recently issued its 2025 US Policy Guidelines listing changes and clarifications....more
11/22/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Change in Control ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Policy Updates ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
As companies prepare for the upcoming proxy and annual report season, the following supplements the list of key items to consider contained in our October 2, 2023 post...more
In light of new disclosure rules as well as investor interest, companies may wish to modify their D&O Questionnaires for the 2024 proxy season to address certain hot topics...more
As companies prepare for next proxy season, they should review SEC staff guidance on the pay vs. performance table. In addition to recent staff interpretations, as discussed in our October 2, 2023 post and February 22, 2023...more
10/17/2023
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBITDA ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
As companies look ahead to the upcoming proxy and annual report season, the SEC has generated a number of new items to add to your compliance checklist – in addition to those covered in last year's list. Those items, along...more
10/3/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
CDIs ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equity Compensation ,
Financial Restatements ,
GAAP ,
Insider Trading ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Performance Incentives ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Related Parties ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Ukraine ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
Based on recent developments, we have additional items to supplement our October 10, 2022 post, which highlighted key considerations for the 2022 proxy and annual report season....more
As companies look ahead to the upcoming proxy and annual report season, the SEC has generated a number of new items to add to your compliance checklist. Those items, along with a few other “hot topics,” include the...more
10/11/2022
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
MD&A Statements ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
As discussed in our November 17, 2021 post, management of public companies are required to use universal proxy cards for shareholder meetings involving most election contests held after August 31, 2022. This means that both...more
9/1/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Bylaws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
New Rules ,
Nominee Directors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy ,
Universal Proxy Cards
More than seven years after their original proposal, the SEC adopted new rules requiring companies to disclose metrics reflecting the relationship between executive compensation actually paid and the company’s financial...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
As discussed in our July 24, 2020 client alert, the SEC amended the proxy rules to establish a framework for proxy advisors such as ISS and Glass Lewis to remain exempt from proxy rule information and filing requirements....more
In our November 2, 2021 blog post, we highlighted a number of considerations for the 2022 proxy season. Based on recent developments, the following are some additional items...more
1/21/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Independent Directors ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Yesterday the SEC approved new proxy rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards by management and shareholders soliciting proxy votes for their candidates in non-exempt director election contests, as well as mandating...more
11/19/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Nominee Directors ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance recently published Legal Bulletin 14L (CF) (the “Bulletin”) providing updated guidance on excluding shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act. Specifically, the...more
11/15/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
New Guidance ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Proxy Materials ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
Considerations for companies planning for next proxy season should include the following:
Risk Factors -
..As discussed in our July 13 post, consider current hot topics, including COVID risks, labor market...more
11/3/2021
/ Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
Incentive Compensation ,
MD&A Statements ,
NYSE ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders
On July 22, 2020, the SEC took action to address two aspects of the proxy voting process: (1) amending the proxy solicitation rules with respect to “proxy voting advice businesses” (PVABs or proxy advisory firms), such as ISS...more
SEC Penalizes Company for Non-Compliance with Equal or Greater Prominence Requirement in Earnings Releases -
In late December, the SEC settled its first “equal or greater prominence” enforcement action under its non-GAAP...more
3/11/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Board of Directors ,
CD&A ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBITDA ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equity Compensation ,
GAAP ,
Gender Equity ,
Hedging ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
PCAOB ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Planning for the 2018 Proxy Season -
There are number of important considerations that public companies should be aware of as they begin preparing for the 2018 proxy season, including potential changes in law, pay ratio...more
11/22/2017
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial CHOICE Act ,
Financial Statements ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Foreign Earned Income ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Reporting ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
US v Salman ,
Whistleblower Awards
On November 1, 2017, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I), providing guidance on the excludability of shareholder proposals under Exchange Act Rules 14a-8(i)(7)...more