Category: Litigation

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, 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 […]

CII and pension funds make their voices loud and clear over fee-shifting bylaws

by Cydney Posner As noted in this Reuters post, the Council of Institutional Investors, along with a number of individual pension funds and other institutional investors, have chimed in on the debate currently roiling the Delaware bar over fee-shifting bylaws, sending letters to the governor of Delaware, the chair of the […]

D.C. Circuit grants petition for panel rehearing of conflict minerals case

by Cydney Posner The D.C. Circuit court of Appeals has granted the petitions of the SEC and Amnesty International for panel rehearing (and the motion of Amnesty to file a supplemental brief) in connection with the conflict minerals case, National Association of Manufacturers, Inc. v. SEC. (The Court also ordered that […]

Another twist on restrictive bylaw provisions: minimum support thresholds

by Cydney Posner In this article, Reuters discusses yet another creative permutation on restrictive bylaw provisions — requiring that plaintiffs in certain shareholder litigation provide consents to the litigation from shareholders holding shares in excess of a minimum threshold. The problem the bylaw seeks to address is that shareholder litigation is […]