Tag: SEC

SEC adopts Reg A+

by Cydney Posner At an open meeting this morning, the SEC adopted rules and forms related to the offer and sale of securities under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act, so-called Reg A+, as mandated by Section 401 of the JOBS Act.  Currently, Reg A allows companies to raise up […]

House Republicans pressure SEC to end court battle over conflict minerals rule

by Cydney Posner According to this article from The Washington Post with Bloomberg, in February, House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling and three other House members (Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Bill Huizenga of Michigan, and Ed Royce of California) sent a letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White urging […]

Is Corp Fin changing its tune on shareholder proposal exclusions?

by Cydney Posner Copied below is a long excerpt from Broc’s blog on thecorporatecounsel.net, which raises the question of whether Corp Fin’s prior position on 14a-8(i)(9), the exclusion for directly conflicting proposals, is the only position regarding shareholder proposals they are reconsidering this proxy season. Should we expect more “reflecting” […]

Speakers comment on exclusion of shareholder proposals as false and misleading, Rule 14a-8(i)(3)

by Cydney Posner At the PLI conference on February 10, Corp Fin Director Keith Higgins, while focusing primarily on the issue du jour of Rule 14a-8(i)(9), the rule that permits companies to exclude from their proxy statements shareholder proposals that directly conflict with management proposals, also spent a little time […]

ISS announces its position on proxy access and exclusion of shareholder proposals

by Cydney Posner Today, ISS issued long-awaited FAQs regarding its policy with respect to shareholder proposals for proxy access and its position on exclusion of shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8(i)(9). Taken together with the views that Glass Lewis has informally already expressed on this issue (which tend to emphasize a more subjective, […]

Survey: institutional investors want return of 25-page proxy statements

by Cydney Posner Let’s reconsider: is it really necessary – or even useful – to have a proxy statement for an ordinary annual meeting that exceeds 100 pages in length?  Does responsibility for bloated proxy statements lie with legislators and regulators or must we practitioners (and may I include comp […]

Companies take clawbacks into their own hands — ouch, is it always a good thing?

by Cydney Posner As Compliance Week reports, this study from PwC showed that many companies are adopting clawbacks related to their executive compensation arrangements, even before the SEC acts to implement the Dodd-Frank clawback provisions.  The PwC study looked at 100 large public companies and found that 40% had made […]

Corp Fin Director Higgins shares his thoughts on Rule 14a-8(i)(9), the exclusion for conflicting proposals

by Cydney Posner At a PLI conference yesterday on Corporate Governance, Corp Fin Director Keith Higgins gave us a preview of the Division’s thinking about how to address the issues that have arisen recently with respect to Rule 14a-8(i)(9), which allows a company to exclude from its proxy statement a shareholder proposal […]

SEC issues proposal for hedging policy disclosure; Commissioners add some drama to otherwise humdrum rule proposal

by Cydney Posner This morning, the SEC posted proposed amendments to rules to implement Section 955 of Dodd-Frank, which requires, in proxy statements for annual meetings, disclosure of whether employees or directors are permitted to hedge equity securities of the company. (Apparently, the SEC voted to issue the proposal without the […]

Glass Lewis expands on its views of proxy access proposals

by Cydney Posner At the end of last week, as discussed here, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis told the WSJ that, in some circumstances, it may recommend against company nominees for director when the company excludes a shareholder proposal for proxy access on the basis of a conflicting management proposal. That […]