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Almost overnight, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has become ubiquitous in numerous aspects of life, both personal and work-related. Nearly all major law firms have begun to explore and, in many instances, have...more
Glass Lewis, a leading proxy advisory firm, recently released a preview of changes to its pay-for-performance model that will take effect for the 2026 proxy season. Glass Lewis’ announcement, which is modest in terms of...more
The 2025 proxy season (July 1, 2024 – June 20, 2025, meetings) concluded with a significant drop in the volume of shareholder proposals from the 2024 proxy season’s record high, as environmental and social (E&S) proposals...more
Last week, Glass Lewis issued the client communication below previewing changes to its quantitative pay-for-performance (P4P) model that will become effective for shareholder meetings starting in 2026. The announcement...more
If you’re attending the ‘Society of Corporate Governance’ Conference in Colorado in a few weeks, look for one of our Cooley people – including me – so that you can procure one of our nifty “proxy season wristbands.” You can...more
In the latest episode of the Mintz On Air: Practical Policies podcast, Member Jen Rubin is joined by Member Anne Bruno to discuss public company DEI reporting in today’s evolving federal legal landscape. This episode is part...more
Join us for the next KPMG Board Leadership Center quarterly webcast as we discuss trends from the 2025 proxy season. Topics to be discussed include: - A look at proxy voting trends and outcomes - The board’s story and...more
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
Proxy advisors, and specifically ISS and Glass Lewis, are in the business of advising asset managers on whether to vote for or against the thousands of director nominees and proposals that are presented to shareholders each...more
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 important statements and interpretations, including a Staff Legal...more
For those who use “March Madness” to describe proxy season rather than basketball, they'll immediately know that the “economic relevance” exclusion under Rule 14a-8(i)(5) is something of a lore in the SEC's shareholder...more
Item 402(x) of Regulation S-K, introduced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 14, 2022, and effective for 2024 proxy statements, requires that public companies disclose detailed information about...more
On February 12, 2025, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M (“SLB 14M”), which rescinds in part...more
Only a short time has elapsed since President Trump named Mark T. Uyeda as Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on January 21, 2025. Already, however, the regulatory climate has shifted significantly...more
Under the new administration, several shifts in E&S have impacted public companies across a number of different practice areas. In light of these developments, companies are taking a wide array of approaches to disclosure,...more
When finalizing proxy materials for annual shareholder meetings, we recommend that companies consider the recent changes to proxy disclosure requirements and other disclosure trends summarized in our December 11, 2024, client...more
As we reported in our Preparing for the 2025 Proxy Season client alert, Glass Lewis announced on February 18, 2025, that it was reviewing its diversity-related voting guidelines “in the face of the U.S. Administration’s...more
This Cooley Alert that I blogged about earlier today – penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Luci Altman, and Michael Mencher – has been updated for this development...more
Public companies find themselves rethinking disclosures relating to the diversity of their board and their director recruitment practices as they head into proxy season, given recent developments – including the US Court of...more
Public companies navigating the 2025 proxy season just got some breathing room—at least when it comes to excluding certain shareholder proposals. Last week, the Staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance—in a...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) and Glass Lewis have published their Canadian benchmark policy guidelines for the 2025 proxy season. Key updates focus on the board’s oversight of artificial intelligence (“AI”),...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, two leading proxy advisory firms, recently announced updates to their U.S. proxy voting policies in advance of the 2025 proxy and annual meeting season. Public...more
Welcome to the Corporate Briefing, where we review the latest developments in UK corporate law that you need to know about. In this month’s issue we discuss...more
In preparation for the upcoming 2025 proxy season, issuers should familiarize themselves with the updated Canadian proxy voting guidelines recently published by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass, Lewis &...more
Just in time for the commencement of proxy season we have this reminder from SEC Enforcement about disclosures of related-person transactions. Failure to properly report on a related-person transaction has been a subject of...more