The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week released a proposal that, among other things, would require issuers that are subject to federal proxy rules to conduct: (i) a shareholder advisory vote to approve the compensation of executives at least once every three years; (ii) a shareholder advisory vote on the frequency of executive compensation votes at least once every six years; and (iii) a shareholder advisory vote on golden parachute arrangements in connection with merger transactions. The SEC's proposal, which result from an amendment to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 emanating from the recent Dodd-Frank Act, would also impose various disclosure requirements.
Meanwhile, further proposals would require institutional investment managers that manage certain equity securities having an aggregate fair market value of at least $100 million to annually report to the SEC on how they voted proxies relating to the matters described above, namely, executive compensation, the frequency of say-on-pay votes and "golden parachute" arrangements.
The SEC is accepting public comments on the proposals until November 18.
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