Meta Lawsuit: In Brief Many thanks to Rick Alexander and The Shareholder Commons for allowing me to play a small role in opening up a new legal battle. The Meta lawsuit contends that directors of Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, must consider the effects of its commercial activities on the portfolios of Meta shareholders, not just Meta’s short-term […]
Restore shareholder proposal rights to the pre-Trump era level. That is the objective of the complaint (pdf 2021 06 15 ICCR Complaint) filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC’s) recent amendments to the rule governing the filing of shareholder proposals. The revised […]
Amy L. Goodman and John F. Olson, both of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP posted Shareholder Proposal Developments During the 2014 Proxy Season on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation yesterday. It included some good information and analysis but seemed a bit too much like the response to a shareholder […]
Chipotle Mexican Grill, $CMG, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/15/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 5/8/2014. I voted with management 0% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted […]
In a memorandum and order issued yesterday, Judge Louis L. Stanton, of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled John Chevedden’s motion to dismiss is granted. Omnicom’s motion for summary judgment is denied. “The clerk is requested to enter judgment dismissing the complaint, with costs and disbursements in favor of Mr. […]
Don’t miss the following great reads: Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance Activist shareholders’ top priorities for 2014. A must read for directors and shareowners alike. Here’s the first paragraph. Many of us free ride on actions taken by active, long-term shareholders. These unsung heroes goad managers and boards to reach better decisions, make available […]
I get frequent alerts for news on shareowner activism from various sources. I’ve seen this press release sent out by Susman Godfrey L.L.P. concerning their win against a small shareowner pop up so many times I can no longer ignore it. (more…)
Every year, the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, in conjunction with Cornerstone Research, releases its annual overview of securities class action lawsuit flings. As I noted in a post last week, this year’s version introduced a number of innovations and reflected a host in interesting observations. (Interview with Stanford Law Professor Joseph Grundfest […]
A group of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shareholders are seeking legal retribution for what they see as managerial oversights and ignorance of “red flags” that may have provided notice of the recent federal investigations of the company’s “manufacturing defects” and potentially illegal “marketing practices.” The multiple investigations began earlier this year when the company froze […]
The SEC placed proxy access on hold and will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for an “expedited review” of a legal challenge by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, according to a legal order posted on the agency’s website today. The move means rules allowing shareholders […]
As expected, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable filed a legal challenge to the SEC’s proxy access rules requiring a corporation to include in its proxy materials director nominees put forward by a shareholder (or group of shareholders) who have owned three percent or more of company stock for at least three years. […]
Activist hedge fund Strategic Turnaround Equity Partners (STEP) is taking legal action against Detroit-based United American Healthcare Corporation (UAHC). UAHC apparently amended its bylaws so it did not need approval from regulators and shareowners to issue in excess of 20% of its shares to Pulse Systems. STEP portfolio manager Gary Herman branded UAHC as “the […]