Monthly Archives: June 2015

Shareholder Activism and Executive Compensation

Posted by Jeremy L. Goldstein, Jeremy L. Goldstein & Associates, LLC, on
Thursday, June 18, 2015
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Jeremy L. Goldstein is founder of Jeremy L. Goldstein & Associates, LLC. This post is based on a publication by Mr. Goldstein. Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance about CEO pay includes Paying for Long-Term Performance (discussed on the Forum here) and the book Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation, both by Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried.

In today’s environment in which all public companies—no matter their size, industry, or performance—are potential targets of shareholder activists, companies should review their compensation programs with an eye toward making sure that the programs take into account the potential effects of the current wave of shareholder activism. In this regard, we have provided below some considerations for public company directors and management teams.

“Say on Pay”: Early Warning Sign

Low levels of support for a company’s “say on pay” vote can serve as an early warning sign for both companies and activists that shareholders may have mixed feelings about management’s performance or a board’s oversight. An activist attack following a failed vote may be particularly inopportune for target companies because a failed vote can result in tension between managements and boards. Moreover, activists will not hesitate to use pay as a wedge issue, even if there is nothing wrong with a company’s pay program. Companies should get ahead of potential activists by (1) understanding how their pay programs diverge from standards of shareholders and proxy advisors, (2) developing a robust, year-round program of shareholder engagement by management and independent directors, and (3) considering appropriate changes to pay and governance structures if advisable. Companies that are the most aggressive at shareholder outreach and develop the best relationships with both the investment and the governance representatives of their major holders will be best able to address an activist attack if it occurs.

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Governance Challenges Arising From “Corporate Cooperation” Concepts

Posted by Michael W. Peregrine, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, on
Thursday, June 18, 2015
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Michael W. Peregrine is a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. This post is based on an article by Mr. Peregrine, with assistance from Joshua T. Buchman and Kelsey J. Leingang; the views expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of McDermott Will & Emery LLP or its clients.

The current Department of Justice emphasis on “corporate cooperation” in the context of government investigations creates the potential for significant tension to arise between governance and executive leadership, which potential should be recognized and addressed proactively by the board.

The DOJ Criminal Division has, with notable frequency this spring, sought to increase public transparency as to the process it applies when making a decision with respect to corporate prosecutions. A principal goal of DOJ’s public effort is to clarify the parameters it considers in deciding how to proceed when made aware of alleged corporate wrongdoing. This goal includes making the value of cooperation, and the consequences of noncooperation, more clearly apparent to corporations and their advisors. [1]

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Quality Data and the Power of Prevention

Posted by Kara M. Stein, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
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Kara M. Stein is a Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This post is based on Commissioner Stein’s recent address at Meet the Market North America, available here. The views expressed in the post are those of Commissioner Stein and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the other Commissioners, or the Staff.

As many of you know, I care passionately about the success of the Legal Entity Identifier (or LEI).

With the financial crisis in the rear view mirror, it is sometimes easy to forget the forces that converged in 2007 and harmed both our financial markets and our economy. The events of 2008 are indelibly etched into my memory. I remember when many of our country’s economic leaders began closed-door briefings with members of Congress. Concerned about the unfolding financial crisis, the Chair of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of Treasury plead for help and for an unprecedented financial intervention to stave off another Great Depression. They wanted tools to protect our nation from powerful forces that were pulling the financial system deeper and deeper into distress and potential chaos. At the edge of the abyss, our economic and policy leaders developed a strategy to stabilize our financial system and unlock the halting credit markets. [1]

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New DGCL Amendments Endorse Forum Selection Clauses and Prohibit Fee-Shifting

Posted by Jack B. Jacobs, Sidley Austin LLP, on
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
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Jack B. Jacobs is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a former justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. The following post is based on a Sidley update, and is part of the Delaware law series, which is cosponsored by the Forum and Corporation Service Company; links to other posts in the series are available here.

As expected, the Delaware State Legislature approved amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) that will (i) authorize forum selection clauses in the charters or bylaws of Delaware corporations specifying Delaware as an exclusive forum for litigating internal corporate claims, (ii) prohibit clauses designating only courts outside of Delaware as the exclusive forum for internal corporate claims and (iii) invalidate fee-shifting provisions in the charters or bylaws of Delaware stock corporations. The bill incorporating the amendments passed the Delaware Senate on May 12, 2015 and the Delaware House on June 11, 2015. If the Governor of Delaware signs the bill into law as expected, the amendments will become effective on August 1, 2015.

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Audit Committees: 2015 Mid-Year Issues Update

Posted by Rick E. Hansen, Chevron Corporation, on
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
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Rick E. Hansen is Assistant Corporate Secretary and Managing Counsel, Corporate Governance, at Chevron Corporation.

Board audit committee agendas continue to evolve as companies are faced with a rapidly-changing global business landscape, the proliferation of standards and regulations, increased stakeholder scrutiny, and a heightened enforcement environment. In this post, I summarize current issues of interest for audit committees.

The Audit Committee And Oversight

During her remarks at the Stanford Directors’ College in June 2014, SEC Chair Mary Jo White observed that “audit committees, in particular, have an extraordinarily important role in creating a culture of compliance through their oversight of financial reporting.” [1] Since then, various Commissioners of the SEC and its Staff have reinforced this message by reminding companies of the audit committee’s duties under federal securities laws to:

  • oversee the quality and integrity of the company’s financial reporting process, including the company’s relationship with the outside auditor;
  • oversee the company’s confidential and anonymous whistleblower complaint policies and procedures relating to accounting and auditing matters; and
  • report annually to stockholders on the performance of these duties.

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NY Court: RMBS Statute of Limitations Runs from Time of Securitization

Posted by Theodore N. Mirvis, Watchtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, on
Monday, June 15, 2015
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Theodore N. Mirvis is a partner in the Litigation Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The following post is based on a Wachtell Lipton memorandum by Mr. Mirvis, George T. Conway III, Elaine P. Golin, Graham W. Meli, and Justin V. Rodriguez.

In an important decision for financial institutions and investors in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), the New York Court of Appeals unanimously ruled yesterday (June 11, 2015) that claims for breach of representations and warranties made in an RMBS securitization accrue when the representations and warranties are made, which typically occurs when the securitization closes. ACE Securities Corp. v. DB Structured Products, Inc., No. 85 (June 11, 2015) (see our prior memo). The court held that New York’s six-year statute of limitations for breach-of-contract claims thus begins to run at that time—and not when the securitization sponsor refuses, possibly years or decades later, to comply with a securitization trustee’s demand for the contractual remedy of cure or repurchase of non-compliant loans. Accordingly, claims arising out of most pre-financial crisis RMBS securitizations are now time-barred.

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Integration Clauses and Letters of Intent

Posted by John A. Fisher, Sidley Austin LLP, on
Monday, June 15, 2015
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John A. Fisher is counsel in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Sidley Austin LLP. This post is based on a Sidley update by Mr. Fisher, Sharon R. Flanagan, and Jack B. Jacobs. This post is part of the Delaware law series, which is cosponsored by the Forum and Corporation Service Company; links to other posts in the series are available here.

Shareholders of an acquired company in a merger transaction sued the purchaser, arguing that certain provisions of a pre-merger letter of intent survived the merger. The Supreme Court of Delaware held that although the merger agreement provided for the survival of portions of the letter of intent, the integration clause of the merger agreement did not transform non-binding provisions of the letter of intent into binding obligations of the purchaser.

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Does Pending Delaware Legislation Cover Fee Shifting in Securities Cases?

Posted by Neil J. Cohen, Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, on
Monday, June 15, 2015
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Neil J. Cohen is the publisher of the Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter. The article is part of a series of articles on the Delaware legislation regarding fee shifting, published in the June 2015 issue of the Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter (available here). This post is part of the Delaware law series, which is cosponsored by the Forum and Corporation Service Company; links to other posts in the series are available here.

The Delaware Senate by a 16-5 vote has passed Bill 75 banning fee-shifting provisions in charters and bylaws in stock corporations for “internal corporate claims”. The bill also contains a prohibition of bylaws or charter provisions that designate a forum other than Delaware as the exclusive forum. That provision would prevent corporations from designating forums that allow fee-shifting provisions.

The Senate resisted a lobbying effort by the Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform to insert a provision expanding the Court of Chancery’s discretionary authority to shift to include cases that “plainly should not have been brought but that do not satisfy the extremely narrow ‘bad faith’ or ‘frivolousness’ exceptions”.

The House is expected to approve the bill in June. If enacted, the amendments would become effective on August 1, 2015.

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New Investor Guide on Engaging on ESG Issues

Posted by Elizabeth Ising, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, on
Sunday, June 14, 2015
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Elizabeth Ising is a partner and Co-Chair of the Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. This post is based on a Gibson Dunn Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor blog post by Ms. Ising.

On May 28, 2015, BlackRock and Ceres released a guide for investors on engaging with public companies, asset managers and policymakers on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) sustainability matters. The guide, titled “21st Century Engagement: Investor Strategies for Incorporating ESG Considerations into Corporate Interactions,” includes sections written by BlackRock and Ceres as well as AFL-CIO, California Public Employees Retirement System (“CalPERS”), California State Teachers Retirement System (“CalSTRS”), Council of Institutional Investors (“CII”), International Corporate Governance Network (“ICGN”), the Office of New York City Comptroller, New York State Common Retirement Fund, North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, PGGM, State Board of Administration of Florida, TIAA-CREF, T. Rowe Price and UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust.

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Resolution: Deposit Insurance—Burden Shifts to Bank

Posted by Dan Ryan, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, on
Saturday, June 13, 2015
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Dan Ryan is Leader of the Financial Services Advisory Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. This post is based on a PwC publication by Mr. Ryan, Mike Alix, Adam Gilbert, and Armen Meyer.

On April 21st, the FDIC proposed new requirements for its largest supervised banks (37 institutions) to improve the record keeping of their deposit accounts. Issued via an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”), the proposal shifts the obligation of calculating FDIC deposit insurance payouts from the FDIC to the banks.

The agency has for some time been concerned about its ability to accurately calculate deposit insurance payouts during a short window following the failure of a large bank. These concerns are in part fueled by the current trend of deposit concentration at the largest banks, and the banks’ (and perhaps the FDIC’s) inadequate technological capability to timely process significant volumes of data.

We expect meeting these proposed requirements to be challenging for banks, especially with respect to obtaining necessary account information that is not currently collected. In addition, banks will need to significantly invest in their data systems to be able to maintain and process this (and other) information in a standardized format, and to calculate insurance payouts at the end of each business day.

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