Substantial implementation, that’s what SEC staff deemed proxy access ‘lite’ last week. Investor rights were eroded again as staff granted a number of no-action letters on February 12th to companies based on “substantial implementation” of proxy access. At its founding, the SEC was largely a champion of shareholder rights. The SEC required companies to include proposals […]
Never underestimate the ability of SEC staff to parse the rules in a creative way. Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14H (CF) does not adhere completely to original intent, which staff determined was “to prevent shareholders from using Rule 14a-8 to circumvent the proxy rules governing solicitations.” However, it gets us where we need to be in defining the […]
Nice to see the Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times writing about my appeal of the SEC’s no-action letter allowing Whole Foods Market to exclude my proxy access proposal. (Whole Foods’ High Hurdle for Investors, 1/3/2015) As Morgenson, writes: (more…)