Proxy Season

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In light of the growing concern about COVID-19 (“coronavirus”) in the United States and globally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and other public health officials have recommended cancelling large, in-person gatherings for the next several weeks.[1] As a result, some companies may be considering, or may in the coming weeks need to consider, postponing the date of their shareholder meeting.  While moving to a virtual or hybrid meeting, as discussed in our blog post, “Coronavirus & Virtual Annual Meetings,” may be a good solution for certain companies, other companies may determine (or due to a lack of vendor capacity may be forced to determine) that the better course of action for them is to postpone or adjourn their annual meetings.
Continue Reading Coronavirus & Postponing/Adjourning Annual Meetings

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2020”.

Shareholder engagement continues to be an important consideration for companies in communicating their long-term strategy and deepening relationships with their investors, and boards are becoming ever more involved in the process.

In…

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2020”.

Investors and other stakeholders continue to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at public companies, both as a driver of financial performance and as a factor of social importance.

The…

The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2020”.

We foresee investors continuing to both refine and expand their demands on corporate boards in 2020. With the particular focus on board refreshment and diversity, significant pressure is placed on nominating and…

On December 2, 2019, The Conference Board and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP hosted a panel discussion on key corporate governance considerations for the 2020 proxy season. The panelists were Sandra L. Flow, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb, Mary E. Alcock, Counsel, Cleary Gottlieb and William Ultan, Managing Director, Corporate Governance, Morrow Sodali. The panel was moderated by Paul Washington, Executive Director, ESG Center, The Conference Board.
Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb Participates in Panel Discussion on Outlook for the 2020 Proxy Season

On November 5, the SEC released its widely anticipated proposed changes to some of the procedural requirements for shareholder proposals to be included in management’s proxy statement under Exchange Act Rule 14a-8. In this latest release, the SEC addresses procedural requirements that it has not revised in more than 20 years. The release proposes five…

On November 5, a divided Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed new rules about proxy advisory firms. The proposed rules would, if adopted, have three principal effects:

  • Before a proxy advisory firm distributes its recommendations for a particular shareholder vote to its clients, it would be required to give a company an opportunity to comment

…

On August 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted (1) guidance on the proxy voting responsibilities of investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act and related rules (the “Advisers Guidance”) and (2) interpretation and guidance on the applicability to proxy voting advice of the rules on proxy solicitation under the Securities Exchange Act (the “Solicitation Guidance”).
Continue Reading In its Highly Anticipated Guidance on Proxy Advisory Firms, the SEC Proceeds With Caution

On July 18, 2019, The Conference Board and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP hosted a panel discussion on the 2019 proxy season highlights and trends, including the considerations companies have been evaluating during engagement with investors. The panel also discussed the continuation of significant governance issues for companies, such as in the areas of board composition, diversity, environmental issues and the interrelationship between shareholder issues and those in the news cycle. The panelists were Pamela Marcogliese, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb, Elizabeth Bieber, Associate, Cleary Gottlieb and Theresa Molloy, Vice President, Governance and Shareholder Services, Prudential Financial. The panel was moderated by Paul Washington, the new Executive Director of ESG Center at The Conference Board.
Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb Participates in Panel Discussion on Highlights of the 2019 Proxy Season

Recently, Vanguard updated its Vanguard Fund proxy voting guidelines, disclosing a proxy voting policy relating to what Vanguard considers to be overboarded directors, based on the evolving role of directors and its assessment of the time and energy required to effectively fulfill director responsibilities. 
Continue Reading How Many Directorships is Too Many? Vanguard’s Evolving View