Category: Executive Compensation

SEC charges company with violations of the rules related to non-GAAP financial measures

by Cydney Posner The Corp Fin staff have been dropping hints for quite a while about potential enforcement actions in connection with abuses of non-GAAP financial measures (see, e.g., this PubCo post), and an interesting one has now materialized.  In an Order released today, the SEC announced settled charges against MDC […]

Is there a fix for short-termism?

by Cydney Posner Much has been written about the problems associated with the prevalence of short-term thinking in corporate America.  As noted in a post from The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, a recent academic study revealed that “three quarters of senior American corporate officials […]

Likely interim SEC Chair spells out his priorities

by Cydney Posner According to this article in the WSJ,  SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar, who will probably become acting Chair when current Chair Mary Jo White steps down this month, has agreed with fellow Commissioner Kara Stein about various rulemakings that they might pursue in the interim until nominee Jay […]

ISS and Glass Lewis Update 2017 Proxy Voting Policies

by Cydney Posner If you haven’t already, please check out our recent Cooley Alert, ISS and Glass Lewis Update 2017 Proxy Voting Policies.  It’s a great way to start the new year and a lot more fun than a diet!

A city takes on CEO pay it considers “disproportionate” — will others follow suit?

by Cydney Posner The NYT reports on an effort by one city to address income inequality by imposing a surtax on companies that pay their CEOs more than 100 times the median pay of their rank-and-file workers. According to the article, on December 7, the City Council of Portland, Oregon […]

Hitting populist note, U.K. proposes enhancements to corporate governance — will the new U.S. administration follow the populist playbook?

by Cydney Posner One of the prevailing narratives of the recent Presidential election was that the same gestalt that drove the Brits to vote for Brexit also animated the pro-Trump forces and led to his presidential victory.  Why then, when it comes to regulation of corporate conduct, do the two […]

New CDIs regarding registration fees and Form S-8

by Cydney Posner More new CDIs from Corp Fin, some relating to Form S-8 and the computation of registration fees under Rule 457:

Undo Dodd-Frank?

by Cydney Posner With Congress and the Presidency soon in Republican control, look for the Financial CHOICE Act (or perhaps an enhanced version) to be re-introduced in the next Congress.  The bill, sponsored by Jeb Hensarling, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, was framed as a Republican proposal to […]

Corp Fin posts new CDIs on pay-ratio disclosure

by Cydney Posner Corp Fin has just issued several new CDIs regarding pay-ratio disclosure (S-K Item 402(u)). As you probably recall, the pay-ratio provision mandates that the SEC require most public companies to disclose, in a wide range of their SEC filings: the median of the annual total compensation of […]

PwC survey of directors showed skepticism on the benefits of shareholder engagement, critical views of some board colleagues and gender splits on board diversity

by Cydney Posner In its annual survey released Tuesday of more than 800 corporate directors, PwC identified ten key findings, including critical views on other board members, split views on board diversity and skeptical views on the benefits of shareholder engagement. Of the directors surveyed, in 2016, 35% thought that at least […]