Monthly Archives: March 2013

Initial 2013 Annual Meeting Results: Six Board Declassification Proposals Passed with Average Support of 79%

Editor’s Note: Professor Lucian Bebchuk is the Director of the Shareholder Rights Project (SRP), Scott Hirst is the SRP’s Associate Director, and June Rhee is Counsel at the SRP. The SRP, a clinical program operating at Harvard Law School, works on behalf of public pension funds and charitable organizations seeking to improve corporate governance at publicly traded companies, as well as on research and policy projects related to corporate governance. Any views expressed and positions taken by the SRP and its representatives should be attributed solely to the SRP and not to Harvard Law School or Harvard University. The work of the SRP has been discussed in other posts on the Forum available here.

Although the 2013 proxy season is still in its early stages, board declassification proposals submitted by the Shareholder Rights Project (SRP) on behalf of SRP-represented investors have already gone to a vote at the 2013 annual meetings of six S&P 500 and Fortune 500 companies, and these proposals all passed by substantial majorities, receiving average support of 79% of votes cast.

This result continues the strong record of success for SRP-represented investors in 2012, and reflects the on-going strong support for board declassification among institutional investors. The table below provides information concerning these six precatory declassification proposals, all submitted on behalf of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM).

DECLASSIFICATION PROPOSALS GOING TO A VOTE SO FAR IN 2013

Company % of Votes
Cast in Favor
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD) 80.2%
Ashland Inc. (ASH) 82.6%
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) 71.9%
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) 82.2%
Rockwell Collins, Inc. (COL) 83.0%
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (VAR) 74.8%
Average: 79.1%

READ MORE »

Unbundling Rules and Say-on-Pay Decisions in Apple Shareholder Case

James C. Morphy is a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP specializing in mergers & acquisitions and corporate governance. The following post is based on a Sullivan & Cromwell publication.

On February 22, 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York enjoined Apple, Inc. from proceeding with a planned vote at its annual shareholders’ meeting on amendments to certain provisions of its articles of incorporation on the grounds that the proposed amendments, which were presented as a single matter to be voted upon, likely violated SEC rules prohibiting the “bundling” of separate matters into a single vote.

In the same opinion, the court rejected a shareholder petition to enjoin Apple’s “say-on-pay” vote. In that regard, the shareholder made similar arguments as those in complaints received by numerous companies in recent months – namely, that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section was not compliant with SEC rules because it gave insufficient detail on the compensation committee’s decision-making process and the information the committee had. The court disagreed, holding that Apple’s disclosure was “plainly sufficient under SEC rules.”

The unbundling decision serves as a reminder that companies preparing their proxy statements for upcoming annual meetings should ensure that all material, separate matters are presented for separate votes. The mere fact that multiple matters are included in a single charter amendment, or that the matters are all broadly “shareholder-friendly,” is not, based on the Apple decision, sufficient to avoid a violation of the unbundling rules.

READ MORE »

Comparability, Capital Market Benefits, and the Voluntary Adoption of IFRS

The following post comes to us from Mary Barth, Professor of Accounting at Stanford University; Wayne Landsman, Professor of Accounting at the University of North Carolina; Mark Lang, Professor of Accounting at the University of North Carolina; and Christopher Williams of the Department of Accounting at the University of Michigan.

In our paper, Effects on Comparability and Capital Market Benefits of Voluntary Adoption of IFRS by US Firms: Insights from Voluntary Adoption of IFRS by Non-US Firms, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we examine whether voluntary adoption of IFRS is associated with an increase in comparability of accounting amounts and capital market benefits after the firms adopt IFRS. Our evidence is based on samples of non-US firms that voluntarily adopt IFRS matched with firms of similar size in their country and industry that either adopted IFRS before them or do not adopt IFRS.

We find that after firms voluntarily adopt IFRS, their accounting amounts become more comparable to those of firms that adopted IFRS before them and less comparable to those of firms that do not adopt IFRS. We also find that adopting firms generally exhibit an increase in capital market benefits—liquidity, share turnover, and firm-specific information—relative to both adopted and non-adopting firms. However, there is little evidence of capital market consequences for adopted firms and little evidence that non-adopting firms suffer a decrease in capital market benefits.

READ MORE »

The “Hindsight” Principle and Clients of Insolvent UK Brokers

Barnabas Reynolds is head of the global Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory Group at Shearman & Sterling LLP. This post is based on a Shearman & Sterling client publication.

The High Court in London has held that clients of insolvent UK brokers are entitled to a claim based on the value of their open positions as at the date of entry into administration or liquidation, rather than based on the value actually realised when those positions are closed. The “hindsight” principle – that where assets are later actually valued, actual values should be used – is not applicable.

Background

Under the client money and client asset rules contained in the CASS 7 and 7A sourcebooks of the UK Financial Services Authority (the “FSA”) Handbook (the “client money rules”), brokers are required to segregate money received from or held for their clients and will hold such funds pursuant to a statutory trust. In the event of the broker entering administration or liquidation, client money is segregated from the broker’s property and is distributed to clients on a pari passu basis (meaning “pro rata”).

The client money rules have been the subject of protracted litigation and judicial criticism in various cases due to their lack of clarity and even drafting errors. A number of issues regarding the client money rules were resolved by the UK Supreme Court in February 2012 in the litigation arising out of the Lehman insolvency, and have been discussed in a previous client publication. [1] The client money rules have also been amended in various ways and are currently subject to a consultation process for more wholesale amendment. [2]

On 31 October 2011, investment broker MF Global UK Limited became the first investment company to enter the special administration regime under the Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011. It held client money as well as many open derivative positions for clients.

READ MORE »

Limited Partner Performance and Maturing of the Private Equity Industry

The following post comes to us from Berk Sensoy, Assistant Professor of Finance at the Ohio State University; Yingdi Wang, Assistant Professor of Finance at the California State University at Fullerton; and Michael Weisbach, Professor of Finance at the Ohio State University.

Since the modification of the “Prudent Man” rule in 1978 that allowed institutional investors to allocate part of their portfolios to alternative assets, the private equity industry has changed substantially. In 1980, the largest fund raised was the Golder-Thoma $60 million dollar fund that invested in many different kinds of deals, including both venture capital and buyouts. At the time, institutional investors were somewhat skeptical of the industry, GPs, LPs and portfolio firms were experimenting with different contractual structures, and indeed “private equity” itself was not an accepted term. By the time of the 2008 Financial Crisis, individual funds of over $20 billion were being raised, funds became specialized in particular types of investments so that “renewable energy” or “infrastructure” funds were commonplace, contracts have become standardized, and private equity has become an accepted part of the financial world in which most major business schools teach courses, and is even a topic for debate in presidential campaigns.

It is natural that such maturing of an industry can lead to changes in the fundamental relationships between participants. In the private equity industry, the major participants are the limited partners (LPs), the general partners (GPs), and the portfolio companies. In the paper, Limited Partner Performance and the Maturing of the Private Equity Industry, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, my co-authors (Berk Sensoy and Yingdi Wang) and I explore the relationship between limited partners and general partners by focusing on access to funds, and the way in which it has changed over recent years. An overarching hypothesis is that the fundamental changes brought on by the maturing of the private equity industry have changed the nature of relationship between limited partners and general partners in private equity.

READ MORE »

CFTC’s Progress on Wall Street Reform

Gary Gensler is chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This post is based on Chairman Gensler’s testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, available here.

The New Era of Swaps Market Reform

This hearing is occurring at an historic time in the markets. The CFTC now oversees the derivatives marketplace — across both futures and swaps. The marketplace is increasingly shifting to implementation of the common-sense rules of the road for the swaps market that Congress included in the Dodd-Frank Act.

For the first time, the public is benefiting from seeing the price and volume of each swap transaction. This post-trade transparency builds upon what has worked for decades in the futures and securities markets. The new swaps market information is available free of charge on a website, like a modern-day ticker tape.

For the first time, the public will benefit from the greater access to the markets and the risk reduction that comes with central clearing. Required clearing of interest rate and credit index swaps between financial entities begins next month.

For the first time, the public will benefit from specific oversight of swap dealers. As of today, 71 swap dealers are provisionally registered. They are subject to standards for sales practices, recordkeeping and business conduct to help lower risk to the economy and protect the public from fraud and manipulation. The full list of registered swap dealers is on the CFTC’s website, and we will update it as more entities register.

READ MORE »

Target CEO Retention in Acquisitions Involving Private Equity Acquirers

The following post comes to us from Leonce Bargeron, Frederik Schlingemann, and Chad Zutter, all of the Finance Group at University of Pittsburgh, and René Stulz, Professor of Finance at Ohio State University.

In the paper, Does Target CEO Retention in Acquisitions Involving Private Equity Acquirers Harm Target Shareholders?, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we examine whether target shareholders are affected adversely when the target CEO is retained by the acquirer and if the effect differs when the acquisition involves a private equity firm. We find that private equity acquirers are more likely to retain target CEOs, and, given an acquisition is made by a private equity firm, target shareholders receive a higher premium when the CEO is retained. The difference in premium is economically large as it corresponds to 10% to 23% of pre-acquisition firm value.

The reason for this higher premium is that the CEOs retained by private equity acquirers appear to be CEOs who have performed better and hence can add more value to the firm that results from the acquisition. Further, a CEO who is retained cannot compete with her former firm and we show that the premium paid if a CEO is not retained falls with the ease with which that CEO can compete with her former firm. The fact that better CEOs are more likely to be retained and that targets receive higher premiums when the CEO is retained is inconsistent with the view that the target CEO conflict of interest leads to inefficient retention of CEOs in exchange of lower premiums.

READ MORE »

EU Financial Transaction Tax Proposed for 11 Member States

The following post comes to us from Iain Scoon, partner in the Tax Group at Shearman & Sterling LLP, and is based on a Shearman & Sterling client publication.

The European Union Financial Transaction Tax (EU FTT) is back on the agenda. While only 11 EU member states will now apply the EU FTT, the effect is likely to be felt more widely.

The Directive on the EU FTT that was originally proposed in September 2011 would have covered all 27 EU member states. Following opposition from several member states, a group of 11 – Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain (together, the FTT Zone) – have pressed on under the little-used “enhanced cooperation” procedure, whereby some EU member states can adopt a Directive that does not apply to the other member states.

The European Commission published a revised draft Directive on 14 February 2013 to implement the EU FTT in the FTT Zone. The draft Directive will require unanimous agreement between the FTT Zone states. If agreement is obtained, the EU FTT is proposed to come into force on 1 January 2014.

READ MORE »

Addressing Market Instability through Informed and Smart Regulation

Luis A. Aguilar is a Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This post is based on Commissioner Aguilar’s remarks at the Practicing Law Institute’s SEC Speaks in 2013 Program; the full text, including footnotes, is available here. The views expressed in the post are those of Commissioner Aguilar and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the other Commissioners, or the Staff.

As many of you know, I am now in my second term as an SEC Commissioner and this is my fifth time participating at SEC Speaks. During that time, I have served with three different SEC Chairmen, and a fourth is now in the works. It has been, and continues to be, a great privilege to serve at a time during which the SEC’s role as the capital markets regulator has never been more important. However, I must admit being frustrated that we haven’t done more to protect investors.

Clearly, my tenure as a Commissioner has been dramatically impacted by the financial crisis and the pressing need to address the many failings that were brought to light by that crisis. Throughout my tenure, I have worked to be a strong advocate for fulfilling the Commission’s mission to protect investors, facilitate capital formation, and promote a fair and orderly market. To that end, I want to talk to you today about the need to protect investors through robust and effective market oversight.

I am growing increasingly concerned about the stability of our market structure as we lurch from one crisis to another, be it the flash crash or the Knight trading fiasco. Today, I plan to focus on the dangers that investors face from a trading market structure that has shown too many signs of weakness and instability.

READ MORE »

Supreme Court on Statute of Limitations for SEC Enforcement Actions

The following post comes to us from Jay B. Kasner, head of the Securities Litigation Practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and is based on a Skadden memorandum by Mr. Kasner, Matthew J. Matule, Edward B. Micheletti, and Peter B. Morrison.

Gabelli v. Sec. & Exch. Comm’n, No. 11-1274 (U.S. Feb. 27, 2013)

In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the five-year limitations period that governs SEC enforcement actions begins to run when the alleged fraud is complete. The Court reversed the Second Circuit on the issue, which had held that the discovery rule applied in cases where the defendant allegedly committed fraud. The SEC alleged that two mutual fund managers allowed one of the fund’s investors to engage in market timing in the fund in exchange for an investment in a separate hedge fund, but the SEC filed the action more than five years after the conduct was alleged to have taken place. The Court explained that limitations periods ordinarily begin to run upon a party’s injury, but in cases of fraud — when the injury itself is concealed — courts have developed the discovery rule to protect individuals, who are after all not required to be in a constant state of investigation. That rationale however does not apply to the SEC, whose mission is to investigate (and prevent) fraud and which has statutory authority to demand detailed records, including those extra-judicial subpoenas. Therefore, the Court concluded the discovery rule does not apply to the SEC.

Click here to view the opinion.

Page 6 of 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7