Whole Foods proxy access saga continues
by Cydney Posner In her NYT column this past Sunday, Gretchen Morgenson provides an interesting update on the saga of James McRitchie’s proxy access proposal submitted to Whole Foods. When we last tuned in, the SEC staff had granted the no-action request of Whole Foods Market, Inc., allowing the company to omit […]
Appellants file supplemental brief opposing conflict minerals disclosure requirement
by Cydney Posner In the final week of 2014, appellants National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable filed their supplemental brief in the conflict minerals case, National Association of Manufacturers, Inc. v. SEC. The brief was filed in response to the order of the D.C. Circuit Court of […]
SEC proposes rule amendments to conform registration thresholds to JOBS Act thresholds
by Cydney Posner At the end of last week, the SEC issued a press release indicating that it had voted to propose various amendments to implement portions of the JOBS Act. (In a departure from the norm, the SEC did not hold an open meeting to approve issuance of the […]
How many hours does it take to create pay-ratio rules?
by Cydney Posner The WSJ is reporting that the SEC staff has spent an aggregate of 7,196 hours since 2011 working on the development of the still-in-the-proposal-stage pay-ratio disclosure rules required under Dodd-Frank. According to a letter from SEC Chair Mary Jo White to the House Financial Services Committee, that […]
Are we aligning pay to the wrong performance metrics?
by Cydney Posner As discussed in this article in Compliance Week, this report, “The Alignment Gap Between Creating Value, Performance Measurement, and Long-Term Incentive Design,” by Organizational Capital Partners and the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute, contends that most companies are using the wrong metrics to align executive pay with performance. Rather […]
Chief Justice Strine: in praise of benefit corporations
by Cydney Posner In an interesting article In the Harvard Business Law Review, Chief Justice Strine of the Delaware Supreme Court makes clear his view that the concept promoted by some academics and other commentators that corporate directors are entitled to take into consideration the interests of constituencies other than shareholders […]
In case you missed it….
by Cydney Posner Here is a link to an excellent story in the Sunday NYT that takes a more in-depth look into the consequences of hedge fund activism –not just on the company, but also on the community where the business is located. As the author notes, the “tale of […]
SEC, Amnesty and others file briefs in support of upholding the conflict minerals disclosure requirement
by Cydney Posner In November, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the petitions of the SEC and Amnesty International for panel rehearing in connection with the conflict minerals case, National Association of Manufacturers, Inc. v. SEC. The order of the Circuit Court directed the parties to file supplemental briefs […]
Proxy access — is private ordering now taking front and center stage?
by Cydney Posner As reported by thecorporatecounsel.net blog, on December 1, the SEC staff granted the no-action request of Whole Foods Market, Inc., allowing the company to omit from its proxy statement a non-binding shareholder proposal to permit proxy access. The proposal was submitted by James McRitchie, who delegated all authority […]
Court precludes omission of shareholder proposal, after SEC staff permits exclusion
by Cydney Posner In Trinity Wall Street v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a federal district court in Delaware granted injunctive relief precluding omission of a shareholder proposal from Wal-Mart’s proxy statement, notwithstanding the SEC staff’s no-action position permitting exclusion of the proposal. That’s a much simplified version of the case, but […]
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