Tweet your 10-K? SEC votes to issue concept release to modernize Reg S-K
by Cydney Posner At an open meeting this morning, the SEC (all three of them) voted to issue a concept release seeking comment on modernizing certain business and financial disclosure requirements in Reg S-K, part of the SEC’s disclosure effectiveness review project. Reg S-K is 30 years old, and evolving […]
Shareholder proposals to exclude the impact of buybacks from executive comp metrics — will they become a new trend?
A recurring demand by hedge fund activists is that the target company return capital to its shareholders by buying back its own stock. Data compiled by S&P and Bloomberg shows that companies in the S&P 500 spent 95% of their earnings on repurchases and dividends in 2014, including spending $553 billion on stock buybacks. But, in some cases, conducting a stock buyback can be an ultimatum with which company executives are actually happy to comply. Why? One of the more appealing consequences of the buyback trend for company executives is that, in some cases where compensation performance metrics are stock-price- or EPS-related, buybacks can juice executive compensation, irrespective of the operational success of the company. Now, some governance activists are beginning to challenge whether that favorable consequence should be curtailed.
No petition for cert in Natl Assoc. of Manufacturers v. SEC, the conflict minerals case
by Cydney Posner No reason to keep checking the SCOTUS website for the SEC’s cert petition in Natl Assoc. of Manufacturers v. SEC, the conflict minerals case. According to this letter from Attorney General Loretta Lynch to House Speaker Paul Ryan (courtesy of thecorporatecounsel.net blog), “[a]lthough the Commission defended the constitutionality of […]
Will institutional holders begin to follow the activist playbook on their own initiative?
by Cydney Posner To date, for the most part, when it comes to shareholder activism, the heavy lifting has been done by hedge fund activists. Now, as discussed in this NYT DealBook column, institutional shareholders may be stepping out on their own.
SEC Chief Accountant addresses the new revenue recognition standard in the context of the life sciences industry
by Cydney Posner In late March, SEC Chief Accountant, James Schnurr, delivered remarks before the 12th Annual Life Sciences Accounting and Reporting Congress. The remarks addressed the new revenue recognition standard and internal control over financial reporting as applied in particular to life sciences companies, and also cautioned companies regarding […]
Scrutiny of director tenure continues: is it the next cause célèbre?
by Cydney Posner The scrutiny of pale, stale and male boards continues, this time focused on the “stale,” that is, long-tenured directors. According to the WSJ, institutional investors are increasingly questioning whether more turnover on boards might be appropriate.
Senate bill introduced to reform 13D reporting by closing “loophole” exploited by activist hedge funds
by Cydney Posner Soon after the Wausau Paper Company was targeted by a hedge fund activist in 2011, Wausau’s paper mill in Brokaw, Wisconsin was shuttered by the embattled company. The mill had been established at the end of the 19th century and, since its founding, had provided employment for […]
Corp Fin allows exclusion of a conflicting shareholder proposal under Rule 14a-8(i)(9): does it represent a strategy for the future?
by Cydney Posner Well, we finally have some insight into what the Corp Fin staff had in mind in Staff Legal Bulletin 14H – of course, that’s the SLB in which Corp Fin narrowed the application of Rule 14a-8(i)(9), the exclusion for conflicting proposals. It turns out that what they had […]
We identified our shareholder proposal on our proxy card as “Shareholder Proposal.” Does that work?
by Cydney Posner Uh, no. In a new CDI, Corp Fin tells us how not to identify proposals on proxy cards, particularly shareholder proposals. Rule 14a-4(a)(3) requires that the form of proxy “identify clearly and impartially each separate matter intended to be acted upon.” But, when it comes to shareholder […]
Is it a mistake to insist that CEO pay be performance-based?
by Cydney Posner It goes without saying that, to many, the sine qua non of executive compensation is performance-based pay. From proxy advisory firms to institutional holders to the drafters of Dodd-Frank, the question of whether CEO compensation is aligned with performance is a key measure of whether compensation is […]
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