On December 28, 2012, the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting that the SEC implement rulemaking to impose new requirements with respect to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
Public companies should immediately review their peer group and Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) codes, for purposes of executive compensation in light of the new Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) guidance. If the peer group your company plans to use in the upcoming proxy for assessing and determining executive compensation is different than the peer group used in your company’s last proxy, you should contact ISS before December 21 with your new peer group list.
On April 5, 2012, the President signed into law the “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act” (JOBS Act). The JOBS Act also allows small businesses to harness “crowdfunding,” expands “mini-public offerings,” and streamlines the process for going public for “emerging growth companies”. For a discussion of general provisions in the JOBS Act, please see our April 5, 2012 blog entitled “President Obama Signs JOBS Act: Landmark Reform for Small and Emerging Growth Companies Now Law”.
In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Reform Act”) for adopting regulations required by section 952 of the Reform Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on June 20, 2012 issued a press release and published final rules (Release No. 33-9330) (the “Final Rules”) for compensation committee and compensation adviser independence requirements.
The arrival of a new year means that another proxy season is not that far off. A highlight of the 2011 proxy season was that it marked the first year in which shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation ("Say on Pay") were conducted in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act.
In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Reform Act”) and its own timetable for proposing regulations required by section 952 of the Reform Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 30, 2011 issued a press release and published proposed rules (Release No. 33-9199) (the “Proposed Rules”) for compensation committee and compensation advisor independence requirements.
As calendar year companies work on preparing their 2011 proxy statement materials, we wanted to report on a recent development that highlights the importance of a company's full disclosure of, and compliance with, the SEC's executive compensation disclosure rules.
On July 21, 2010, the President signed into law (Public Law 111-203) the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Reform Act"). The Reform Act implements a sweeping regulatory overhaul of the financial, banking and mortgage industries and also addresses consumer protection. Included in the Reform Act, and which is the subject of this blog, are numerous new laws affecting executive compensation and corporate governance at publicly-held companies.
With Spring just a few weeks away, it also means that the annual proxy statement season for calendar year public companies is in full swing. February 28th marked the effective date for the SEC's expanded executive compensation and corporate governance disclosure rules which we have previously reported on (see our December 18, 2009 blog).
As we recently reported in our December 18, 2009 blog article, the SEC adopted substantial amendments on December 16, 2009 that significantly expand the executive compensation and corporate governance disclosure requirements for publicly held companies. These new rules were presumably adopted now in order to become effective for the 2010 proxy season but, as we noted in our blog, the SEC's adopting release did not provide much guidance regarding the effective dates of the new rules.
As anticipated, on December 16, 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") presented investors and corporate governance reform advocates with a holiday gift by adopting substantial amendments to the executive compensation and corporate governance disclosure requirements for publicly held companies. The amendments reflect the SEC's efforts to increase investor awareness of companies' executive compensation practices and provide shareholders with a greater voice in their companies.
The federal government’s extraordinary multi-pronged attack against executive compensation practices took another step forward, this time with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (“FRB”) taking aim. On October 22, 2009, the FRB proposed new guidance that will dramatically affect incentive compensation arrangements for the banking industry. The proposed guidance is consistent with and largely patterned after the multi-national Financial Stability Board’s September 25, 2009 report titled “FSB Principles for Sound Compensation Practices.” Not to be left out of the headlines, on the same day, the Special Master for the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) Executive Compensation also announced significant reductions in compensation for the top executives and employees at companies receiving exceptional TARP assistance along with various other mandated reforms to compensation practices.
Acting in rapid fashion, on July 31, 2009, the House of Representatives passed legislation that, if enacted, would further advance the federal government's efforts to realign executive compensation practices. As we reported in our July 22, 2009 blog, the Treasury Department released draft legislation just two weeks earlier to require (i) an annual shareholder vote to approve named executive officer compensation, (ii) a shareholder vote to approve golden parachute arrangements and (iii) enhanced compensation committee independence and authority. The House-approved legislation, which now has been referred to the Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, in some respects goes even further than what was originally contemplated by Treasury.
As a part of the federal government's on-going efforts to reform executive compensation practices and to rein in excessive compensation, the Treasury Department drafted and released new legislation (known as the "Investor Protection Act of 2009") on July 16, 2009 concerning shareholder Say-on-Pay and the independence of compensation committees (see also the Treasury's fact sheets on Say-on-Pay and compensation committee independence). This legislation was expected given recent Treasury pronouncements on executive compensation (see our June 18, 2009 and July 17, 2009 blogs). Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), House Financial Services Chairman, declared his support for the legislation and circulated it to other members of the committee with the near-term objective of marking up the legislation this week.
As anticipated and in response to the “turmoil in the markets during the past 18 months”, on July 10, 2009 the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposed substantial amendments to the executive compensation and corporate governance disclosure requirements for publicly held companies.
June 10,2009 marked an extraordinary day of announcements affecting executive compensation for both recipients of financial assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) and other publicly held companies, including:
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ("EESA"), which President Bush signed into law on October 3, 2008, created the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("TARP") under which the United States Treasury (the "Treasury") is generally authorized to purchase troubled assets from certain financial institutions. EESA establishes different sets of restrictions for financial institutions based on whether they sell troubled assets directly to the Treasury or whether they sell troubled assets through an auction process. EESA also modified certain tax code provisions that placed limitations on the deductibility of compensation paid to certain executives. This blog provides a brief overview of EESA provisions that address the executive compensation practices of financial institutions participating in TARP.
Add this blog to your feeds or subscribe by email by entering your email address in the box below.