Illegal Marrone Bio proxy threatens not only their own shareholders but those of all companies. If Marrone Bio gets away with it, so can others. What can we do when a company violates the law and the SEC fails to act? We could go to court but that’s expensive. Instead, let’s mobilize. If enough cry foul, […]
Verbal No-Action Decisions Slammed by Shareholder Rights Group Verbal no-action decisions by the SEC threaten the integrity of corporate governance. On September 6, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new policy providing for verbal no-action decisions that could significantly reduce transparency and accountability in the process of enforcement of the rules on shareholder proposals. […]
Jessica Holzer, writing for The Wall Street Journal informs readers this morning, Firms Try New Tack Against Gadflies: Corporations Look to Block Shareholder Activists’ Proposals by Challenging the Size of Their Stakes – WSJ.com. Companies have long viewed shareholder activist John Chevedden as a pain. The retired aerospace worker and his network of like-minded activists […]
I was about to sit down this morning and write another scathing post on Kinetic Concepts when I learned of their press release announcing they will gradually declassify their board. They gave no reason as to why they took this action just ahead of their annual meeting. Perhaps they looked again at their guiding principles, We […]
Here’s a brief note I just sent to the SEC: Dear Chairman Mary Schapiro and Mr. Greg Belliston: On April 12 I alerted you to the fact that Kinetic Concepts has said they will exclude a shareowner proposal from Mr. John Chevedden even though the SEC refused to issue them a no-action letter. I warned […]
Your right to file a proxy without being hauled into court or having your proposal ignored is at risk. I urge readers to raise the profile of the SEC’s failure to act by sending e-mails to the Office of Chief Counsel at shareholderproposals@sec.gov and the Chairman at chairmanoffice@sec.gov. I also recommend you fill out the complaint form at https://tts.sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.html, since […]
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 or 150 years ago today. Texas companies now appear to believe they are again outside the United States with respect to federal laws regarding proxies, based on the flawed decisions of Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. As reported at theCorporateCounsel.net on April 5th: KBR filed a lawsuit in […]