On March 28, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that three private equity (PE) funds were jointly and severally liable for the multiemployer pension plan withdrawal liability of one of their...more
Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, Securities and Exchange Commission rules require companies seeking shareholder approval of a merger or acquisition to also hold a separate shareholder advisory vote on disclosed...more
Individuals serving on company boards of directors should carefully examine director compensation programs and decisions involving their own compensation following an April 30, 2015, ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery....more
Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2016 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of essential areas we believe companies should focus on as they plan for 2016, including...more
12/12/2015
/ Annual Meeting ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
PCAOB ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
The Executive Compensation and Benefits Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is pleased to provide you with this second edition of its Compensation Committee Handbook. This edition reflects developments in...more
12/10/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Compensation Committee ,
Directors ,
Employment Contract ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recently issued its U.S. voting policy guidelines for the 2016 proxy season. The guidelines include a few key changes, a summary of which is outlined below.
Conflicting Shareholder...more
11/23/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Conflicting Proposals ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Director Nominations ,
Exclusive Forum ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
On August 5, 2015, in a 3-2 vote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules implementing the controversial “CEO pay ratio” disclosure requirements that were proposed in 2013 and mandated by...more
On July 1, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued long-awaited proposed rules that would implement the incentive-based compensation recovery (clawback) provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform...more
A Delaware court opinion issued late last week may subject equity grants to directors to increased judicial scrutiny (Calma v. Templeton, No. 9579-CB (Del. Ch. Apr. 30, 2015)). In Calma, the Chancery Court denied the...more
5/6/2015
/ Director Compensation ,
Directors ,
Equity Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Grants ,
Heightened Scrutiny ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Restricted Stocks ,
Shareholders ,
Standard of Review ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Waste
On April 29, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules that would require companies to disclose the relationship between the compensation actually paid to named executive officers (NEOs) and...more
On April 20, 2015, more than three years after withdrawing a similar proposal that was staunchly opposed by the financial services industry, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published in the Federal Register a proposed...more
4/29/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Pension Funds ,
Prohibited Transactions
As part of its ongoing rollout of its 2015 policy updates, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has issued “Frequently Asked Questions” guidance with respect to both its 2015 Compensation Policies and its new equity plan...more
As our clients and friends once again embark on preparations for their 2015 annual meeting and reporting season, we have compiled a checklist of the corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters that we...more
12/9/2014
/ Annual Meeting ,
Bylaws ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
Preface -
The duties imposed on compensation committees of publicly traded companies have evolved and grown over time. This first edition of the Compensation Committee Handbook from the lawyers of the Executive...more
On November 4, 2014, Asahi Tec Corporation (Asahi), a Japanese corporation that acquired U.S.-based Metaldyne Corporation (Metaldyne) in 2007, announced a settlement of its long-running dispute with the Pension Benefit...more
Since the adoption of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, employers and practitioners have wondered when and how the IRS would enforce it. With the recent IRS announcement of an audit initiative with respect to Section...more
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-Mich.) has proposed a draft tax reform plan (the Proposal) containing sweeping changes to the Internal Revenue Code (the Code), including a number of major executive...more
In This Issue:
- Incorporate lessons from 2013 say-on-pay results
- Prepare for new Form SD (Specialized Disclosure) filing requirements
- Ensure compliance with revised listing standards related to compensation...more
12/10/2013
/ Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Compensation Committee ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form SD ,
Forum Selection ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Pay Ratio ,
PCAOB ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders
On November 21, 2013, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released updates to its proxy voting policies effective for shareholder meetings taking place on or after February 1, 2014. The changes to ISS’ U.S. voting...more
On October 21, 2013, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issued draft policy changes for 2014 that, if adopted, would become effective for shareholder meetings taking place on or after February 1, 2014. ISS is soliciting...more
In a rare piece of good news relating to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, on October 4, 2013, California reduced its additional state tax on income failing to comply with Section 409A from 20 percent to 5 percent....more
The SEC has proposed rules to implement the “CEO pay ratio” disclosure requirements under Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The proposed rules would require many SEC reporting companies to publicly disclose the...more
The SEC, by a 3-2 vote, proposed rules to implement the “CEO pay-ratio” disclosure requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed rules would require certain SEC reporting companies to publicly disclose...more
On July 24, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a private equity fund sponsored by Sun Capital Advisors constituted a “trade or business” for purposes of ERISA multiemployer pension withdrawal...more
As the 2013 proxy season heads into its final weeks, we are continuing to monitor say-on-pay vote results and supplemental filing trends, as well as the most recent waves of proxy-related litigation, and have the following...more