February 2013

Independent ChairmanAre the CEO and the Chairman of the Board the same executive at your company?  While there can be very good reasons to have these positions held by the same person, the separation of these posts continues to be a hotly debated topic.  Since the early 1980s, much attention has been paid to corporate boards of directors and how their structures improve (or undermine) organizational performance. In the wake of the recent financial crisis, public corporations have come under scrutiny from activist shareholders, institutional investors, advisory firms and regulators alike.  So naturally, this is the source of the debate over the separation of the CEO and Chairman positions. 

According to the ISS Governance Exchange, in 2012, investors filed 49 independent chair proposals, with more than three-quarters coming to a vote, including three that received majority support.  As of February 1, 2013, this year’s volume of filings now exceeds last year’s total with 53 firms targeted by shareholders seeking a split of the top posts, with additional filings likely at companies meeting later in the year.  Notably, the record for such proposals was set in 2010, with a total of 66. 

Proponents of CEO and Chair independence base their view on the inherent system of checks and balances that the Board, and particularly the Board’s Chairman, is supposed to impose on management.  Essentially, a firm’s Board and Chairman of the Board serves to hire, fire, evaluate and compensate management (including the CEO) based on performance.  Clearly then, these proponents argue, a single CEO and Chairman cannot perform these tasks apart from his or her personal interests, making it more difficult for the Board to perform its critical functions, if and when the CEO is its Chairman.  Accordingly, separation of the Chairman and CEO roles, can lead to better management and oversight because an independent Chairman is able to ensure that the board is fully engaged with strategy and to evaluate how well that strategy is being implemented by management. Importantly, appointment of an independent Chairman can also signal to all stakeholders that the CEO is accountable to a unified Board with a visible leader. 

But while largely helpful from a corporate governance standpoint, one must note that the separation of CEO and Chair positions can impose several costs on a firm.  First, while appointing an outside Chairman can reduce the agency costs of controlling a CEO’s behavior, such an appointment introduces
Continue Reading Separating the positions of CEO and Chairman: The debate rages on

Businessman weary of overregulation by SECI understand that the SEC needs to balance having efficient markets and facilitating capital formation with the protection of investors, but sometimes erecting roadblocks with the intent of protecting investors is merely regulation for regulation’s sake.  On February 5, 2013, the Staff of the Division of Trading and Markets of the SEC provided guidance on Title II of the JOBS Act, specifically to help interpret the limited broker registration exemption.  While at first glance, these FAQs are not controversial, a broad interpretation by the Staff nearly eviscerates certain avenues for capital raises for small and emerging companies under Title II.  

To step back a minute, Title II of the JOBS Act exempts certain persons from having to register as a broker if that person merely “maintains a platform or mechanism” that brings together investors and issuers in a Rule 506 offering as long as the person “receives no compensation in connection with the purchase or sale of such security” and doesn’t have possession of customer funds.  Seemed simple enough.  The start-up community was excited about this exemption.  While many start-up companies struggle to raise capital after exhausting their friends and family, many people in the start-up community envisioned this to be a way for for-profit internet portals to develop where issuers could list their offering materials for a monthly subscription fee rather than a transaction-type fee. 

Unfortunately, the Staff has taken a very broad view (and in my opinion an unwarranted view) of the definition of “compensation.”  Question 6 in the FAQ states that in the Staff’s opinion, Congress did not limit the condition to transaction-based compensation (i.e., any compensation based on the actual sale of securities), but to any direct or indirect economic benefit.  Although I don’t think it is possible for anyone to ascertain what Congress’ intent is because the members all vote for different reasons, William Carlton in his Counselor@Law blog provides a nice synopsis of
Continue Reading SEC curtails JOBS Act broker registration exemption in recent FAQs

Is ISS claiming pledging is the same as bribery?The answer: when ISS is evaluating a public company’s corporate governance under its revised policies for the 2013 proxy season. We previously blogged about the potential insider trading issues that could theoretically arise when insiders pledge company stock to secure loans. Now, with the implementation of the revised ISS governance standards, there are additional reasons for publicly traded companies to implement antipledging and antihedging policies.

ISS specifically addressed hedging and pledging activity in its 2013 U.S. corporate governance policy updates, which were posted in November of last year.  In these updates, ISS included a footnote to its policy on voting for director nominees in uncontested elections in circumstances where there are perceived corporate governance failures. Under the new policy, ISS will recommend “against” or “withhold” votes for directors (individually, committee members, or, in extreme cases, the entire board) due to “[m]aterial failures of governance, stewardship, risk oversight, or fiduciary responsibilities at the company”. The new footnote cites hedging and significant pledging of company stock as examples of activities that will be considered failures of risk oversight. Other cited examples of risk oversight failures include bribery, large or serial fines or sanctions from regulatory bodies, and significant adverse legal judgments or settlements. 

The rationale behind this new update seems to be based on ISS’s belief that pledging any amount of company stock by insiders for a loan is
Continue Reading When does hedging or pledging of company stock by insiders equate to bribery?

Cybersecurity legislationSenator Jay Rockefeller (D., West Virginia), the most vocal proponent of cybersecurity legislation, has renewed his focus on cybersecurity legislation. He has sponsored previous cybersecurity-related legislation, but has been unable to implement any meaningful legislation in this area. His prior sponsorship of the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2012 initially seemed to draw support in the Senate, but it encountered strong opposition from the United States Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber strongly criticized this proposed legislation and went so far as to state that the Chamber would include senators’ votes on this proposed legislation in its annual “How They Voted” survey. In any case, this proposed legislation was not passed in 2012. 

One of the strongest aspects of the Chamber’s resistance to this proposed legislation was the assertion that American companies would be strongly opposed to the legislation.  To confirm the positions of American companies on this issue, Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to the CEOs of all Fortune 500 companies on September 19, 2012. The Senator’s office has now received responses to this letter and the majority staff summarized them in a January 28, 2013 Memorandum

Approximately 300 companies responded to the Senator’s letter. The companies that responded were predominantly larger members of the Fortune 500. According to the Staff Memorandum, the overall responses of the companies were favorable to potential cybersecurity legislation (with some important caveats). 

Based on the Staff Memorandum, there appears to be general support from the responding companies for a voluntary cybersecurity compliance program. The companies’ main objections appear to be concern about the
Continue Reading Cybersecurity legislation continues to move forward