Crown image Columbia Law School
Home About Contact Subscribe RSS Email Twitter
Previous Next

  • John C. Coffee, Jr. – Boeing and the Future of Deferred Prosecution Agreements By John C. Coffee, Jr.
  • Leveraging Information Forcing in Good Faith By Hillary Sale
  • The Dark Side of Safe Harbors Comment bubble 2 By Susan C. Morse
  • John C. Coffee, Jr. – Mass Torts and Corporate Strategies: What Will the Courts Allow? By John C. Coffee, Jr.
  • Compliance’s Next Challenge: Polarization By Miriam H. Baer
  • Will the Common Good Guys Come to the Shootout in SEC v. Jarkesy? And Why It Matters By Eric W. Orts
  • Climate Disclosure Line-Drawing and Securities Regulation By Virginia Harper Ho
  • Board Committee Charters and ESG Accountability By Lisa M. Fairfax
Editor-At-Large Reynolds Holding

The CLS Blue Lion logo Sky Blog

Crown image

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

Editorial Board John C. Coffee, Jr. Edward F. Greene Kathryn Judge

Menu

Skip to content
  • Our Contributors
  • Corporate Governance
  • Finance & Economics
  • M & A
  • Securities Regulation
  • Dodd-Frank
  • International Developments
  • Library & Archives

proxy

SEC Allows Exclusion of Conflicting Proposals on Special Meeting Thresholds – With a Twist

By Keith F. Higgins March 7, 2018 by renholding

Late last year, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a no-action letter in which it agreed that a proposal seeking to lower the threshold for calling a special meeting from 25 percent to 10 percent of the outstanding shares …

King & Spalding Discusses ISS Voting Policies for 2018

By Zachary L. Cochran, Alana L. Griffin, Jeffrey M. Stein, Keith M. Townsend and James C. Woolery December 20, 2017 by renholding

On November 16, 2017, Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) issued its updated proxy voting guidelines for the upcoming 2018 proxy season.  Notable updates applicable to U.S. companies include new or revised policies:

  • to respond to recurring patterns of excessive non-employee director
…

Wachtell Lipton Discusses SEC’s Guidance on Shareholder Proposals

By David A. Katz, Trevor S. Norwitz, Sabastian V. Niles and S. Iliana Ongun November 6, 2017 by renholding

The SEC Division of Corporate Finance recently provided useful guidance on excluding certain Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals (Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I).  While helpful, we hope the SEC will undertake a much-needed comprehensive review of Rule 14a-8, including …

How Institutional Investors’ Ownership Concentration Affects Corporate Governance

By Patrick Jahnke September 22, 2017 by renholding

Over the past few decades, the ownership of public corporations has been turned on its head. While private individuals owned approximately two-thirds of U.S. equities in 1970, today it is institutional investors like Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street that control …

Proxy Delivery Methods Show How Managers Rely on the Retail Shareholder Vote

By Choonsik Lee and Matthew E. Souther May 29, 2017 by renholding

Previous research on shareholder voting has placed most of the emphasis on the role of institutional shareholders. In our recent study, however, we provide evidence that managers strategically rely on the support offered by retail shareholders to ensure that their …

Gibson Dunn Discusses Proxy Advisers’ 2017 Voting Guidelines

By Elizabeth Ising, Lori Zyskowski and Ronald Mueller December 5, 2016 by renholding

The two most influential proxy advisory firms–Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis)–recently released their updated proxy voting guidelines for 2017.  The key changes to the ISS and Glass Lewis policies are described below along with …

Weil, Gotshal Discusses Universal Proxy Cards in a Trump Administration

By Adé Heyliger and Niral Shah November 28, 2016 by renholding

On October 26, 2016 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed proxy rule amendments that would require, in a contested election of directors, the public company and the shareholder activist to each use a “universal” proxy card – i.e., a …

Ropes & Gray Discusses Recent Proxy Access Developments

By Paul Kinsella and David Fine November 18, 2016 by renholding

To date, nearly 300 companies have adopted proxy access bylaws, including over 40 percent of S&P 500 companies. Given the widespread adoption of proxy access by large U.S. companies, it was only a matter of time before a shareholder actually …

Gadflies at the Gate: Why Do Individual Investors Sponsor Proxy Resolutions?

By David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan August 30, 2016 by renholding

Individual investors are active participants in the shareholder resolution process. According to Proxy Monitor, shareholder proposals sponsored by individual investors represent approximately one-quarter of the total number of shareholder resolutions voted on each year.[1] During the 10-year period 2006-2015, individual …

A Plea for a Better Response to a Failed Say on Pay Vote

By Christoph Van der Elst August 26, 2016 by renholding

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act provided shareholders of U.S. public corporations the right to vote on chief executive officers’ compensation, at least every three years. The so–called say on pay vote is advisory but was designed to curb overly generous executive …

A Pernicious Mass. Appeals Court Ruling: Redline Copy of Proposed Bylaw Changes Per Se Renders Misleading Proxy Challenge A Nullity

By Jason Adkins and John Peter Zavez May 23, 2016 by ilyabeylin

In Rule v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company,[1] our client challenged MassMutual’s 2014 Proxy Statement seeking to change its company bylaws.   The Proxy told the over 1 million policyholder-owners that the proposed bylaw changes were consistent with the …

Bond Market Investor Herding: Evidence From the European Financial Crisis

By Emilios C. Galariotis, Styliani-Iris Krokida and Spyros I. Spyrou March 18, 2016 by ilyabeylin

Herd behavior is a widely used notion met in different contexts and disciplines, from neurology and zoology to sociology, psychology, economics and finance. In economics and finance the term herd behavior usually suggests the process where agents tend to imitate …

Hedge Fund Activism: A Guide for the Perplexed

By John C. Coffee, Jr. January 25, 2016 by ilyabeylin

The message of the Dow/DuPont merger and split up is simple: No firm is today “too big to target.” Activists can see the transaction as evidence that, even in the rare case where they lose a proxy fight (as they …

2 Comments  

Ethan Allen, Hedge Fund Activism and Prevailing Over Conventional Advice and Practice

By Jim Carlson December 16, 2015 by ilyabeylin

Ethan Allen and its management prevailed a few weeks ago against an intense hedge fund activist campaign to remove its entire board of directors.

An analyst of one of our larger shareholders, the Gabelli funds, observed “I’ve never seen a …

Skadden discusses Glass Lewis Issuing 2016 US Proxy Policy Guidelines

By Brian V. Breheny and Michael R. Bergmann December 8, 2015 by ilyabeylin

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recently issued its U.S. voting policy guidelines for the 2016 proxy season. The guidelines include a few key changes, a summary of which is outlined below.

Conflicting Shareholder Proposals. Conflicting shareholder proposals relating to …

Wachtell Lipton discusses Staggered Boards, Long-Term Investments and Long-Term Firm Value

By Martin Lipton and Marshall P. Shaffer December 3, 2015 by ilyabeylin

Recent econometric studies (“empirical evidence”) definitively rebut the position taken by the Harvard Law School Shareholder Rights Project (SRP) that classified boards are associated with lower firm value and inferior outcomes for shareholders. After correcting serious statistical and econometrical flaws…

Who Should Pick Board Members?

By Yvan Allaire and François Dauphin November 30, 2015 by ilyabeylin

There is a frenzied rush for shareholders to get a new ‘right”, the right to put up their own nominees for board membership. Boards of directors, so goes a dominant opinion, are not to be fully trusted to pick the …

Unions and Shareholder Proposals

By John G. Matsusaka, Oguzhan Ozbas and Irene Yi November 20, 2015 by ilyabeylin

Invigorating the shareholder proposal process is a top priority for corporate governance reformers. But the possibility that self-interested shareholders could use proposals to harass or pressure managers to accommodate their interests is a cause for concern. Union shareholders attract more …

1 Comment  

Sullivan & Cromwell discusses Proxy Access 2016

By H. Rodgin Cohen, Janet T. Geldzahler, Robert W. Reeder III, Marc Trevino and Bernd P. Delahaye November 19, 2015 by ilyabeylin

As companies prepare for the 2016 proxy season, the number of adopted proxy access bylaws has almost doubled in recent months and at least two new forms of proxy access shareholder proposals have appeared. On the company side, proxy access …

Simpson Thacher discusses ISS Issuing Draft Voting Policy Changes, Requesting Comment

By Yafit Cohn November 3, 2015 by ilyabeylin

On October 26, 2015, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) issued key proposed changes to its policies, inviting all interested parties to provide comment.[1] ISS will accept comments through November 9, 2015 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. If adopted, ISS’s …

« Previous 1 2 3 Next »

TheFilter

Description

Each business day, our team sifts through blog posts, news stories, and other sources to keep up-to-date on relevant recent developments. The following links will take you to our recommended selections. To see the sources we follow click Filter Sources.

Filter Sources
Bloomberg
Xi Rare Earth Move Gives Trump Chance
October 16, 2025
New York Times
J&J Sued in UK Over Baby Powder
October 16, 2025
Reuters
SEC 2025 Enforcement in Retrospect
October 16, 2025
Cointelegraph
SEC’s Atkins: 10-Year US Lag on Crypto
October 16, 2025
Wall Street Journal
PCAOB to Cut Board Pay 20 Percent
October 16, 2025
Reuters
U.S. Judge Blocks Plan to Lay Off Thousands of Government Workers
October 15, 2025
Wall Street Journal
U.S. Is Arranging a $20 Billion Private Finance Facility for Argentina
October 15, 2025
D&O Diary
Lawsuit Challenges Constitutionality of SEC Accredited Investor Rules
October 15, 2025
Law.com
SEC Whistleblower Awards Hit Low
October 15, 2025
Bloomberg
Crypto Litigation Shows Industry Won
October 15, 2025
Bloomberg
AI Savings Spur Goldman Job Cuts
October 14, 2025
Dealbook
What Rebuilding Gaza Would Cost
October 14, 2025
Freshfields' A Fresh Take
Anti-Terrorism Act Liability Evolving
October 14, 2025
The Governance Beat
How SEC Shutdown Hurts EDGAR Next
October 14, 2025
Cornerstone Research
Delaware Chancery M&A-Lawsuit Settlements Are on the Rise
October 14, 2025
Bloomberg
First Brands CEO Exits, Leaves Mess
October 13, 2025
Reuters
How U.S. Is Eating Trump’s Tariffs
October 13, 2025
Wall Street Journal
OpenAI, Broadcom, Forge Chip Deal
October 13, 2025
Dealbook
Prediction Market Expands Overseas
October 13, 2025
The Governance Beat
SEC Sets Shareholder Proposal Demise
October 13, 2025
Delaware Business Litigation Report
Chancery: Top-Shareholder’s Redemption, Call Rights Exercise Unfair
October 12, 2025
D&O Diary
Securities Suit Defense Faces Trouble
October 12, 2025
Bloomberg
SEC Chair Eyes Shareholder Proposals
October 12, 2025
Reuters
SEC Eases IPO Path in Shutdown
October 12, 2025
Business Law Prof Blog
Update on Moves to Texas, Nevada
October 12, 2025
Reuters
Ford Also Backs Off EV Tax Credit Plan
October 9, 2025
Wall Street Journal
New York AG Indicted for Bank Fraud
October 9, 2025
New York Magazine
Ponzi Charges Crash YouTube Empire
October 9, 2025
Bloomberg
FirstBrands Fail Blind Sides Wall Street
October 9, 2025
Deal Lawyers.com
Chancery OKs Claim Insiders Got Non-Ratable Benefit from LLC Conversion
October 9, 2025
Reuters
GM Backs Off EV Tax Credit Claim
October 8, 2025
Dealbook
Battery-Focused Power Firm Gets $1 Bln
October 8, 2025
Sidley Enhanced Scrutiny
PSLRA Confusing Section 11 Litigants
October 8, 2025
D&O Diary
Is Claude the Next Napster?
October 8, 2025
Law.com
SEC Facing Backlogs After Furloughs
October 8, 2025
Bloomberg
Fears of Trillion-Dollar AI Bubble Grow
October 7, 2025
Reuters
Tesla’s “Affordable” Models Are Not
October 7, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Megabanks Drive Regionals to Merge
October 7, 2025
Cooley M&A
Shutdown Stalls Antitrust Enforcers
October 7, 2025
Dealbook
NYSE Parent to Buy Stake in Prediction Market Operator Polymarket
October 7, 2025
Bloomberg
U.S. to Take 10% of Alaska Mining Firm
October 6, 2025
Wall Street Journal
OpenAI, AMD Ink Massive Chip Deal
October 6, 2025
Cleary M&A Watch
How a Retail Voting Program Works
October 6, 2025
Freshfields' A Fresh Take
FTC Challenges Zillow-Redfin Deal
October 6, 2025
Deal Lawyers.com
Chancery Lets Fiduciary Duty Claims Proceed in Microsoft-Activision Deal
October 6, 2025
Bloomberg
Bitcoin Crosses Fresh Record High
October 5, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Startups Eating Big Food’s Lunch
October 5, 2025
Reuters
Trump Eyes Greenland Rare-Earth Firm
October 5, 2025
D&O Diary
Delaware Chancery M&A Suit Settlements Rise in Number and Value
October 5, 2025
Business Law Prof Blog
Second Circuit Securities Decision May Suggest PSLRA Went Too Far
October 5, 2025
Delaware Business Litigation Report
Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Chancery Dismissal of Rule 60(b) Claim
October 2, 2025
Freshfields' A Fresh Take
How EU, California AI Acts Overlap
October 2, 2025
Securities and Exchange Commission
Prophecy Asset Mgmnt Sued for Fraud
October 2, 2025
Reuters
Judge Nixes NFT Artist Suit Against SEC
October 2, 2025
Reuters
Judge Keeps SEC Twitter Suit in DC
October 2, 2025
Reuters
Yahoo Nears AOL Sale for $1.4 Billion
October 1, 2025
Bloomberg
Automakers Extend $7,500 EV Discount
October 1, 2025
D&O Diary
How Plaintiffs Are Dodging Delaware
October 1, 2025
Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor
How Shutdown Affects SEC Operations
October 1, 2025
Deal Lawyers.com
Chancery Says Late Statement Doesn’t Waive Post-Closing Adjustment
October 1, 2025
Bloomberg
Pfizer Gets Three-Year Tariff Reprieve
September 30, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Boeing Starts on 737 MAX Replacement
September 30, 2025
Reuters
AstraZeneca’s U.S. Listing May Pull Other Companies from London
September 30, 2025
D&O Diary
Bankruptcy Statistics Prompt Worry
September 30, 2025
Bloomberg
Atkins Touts SEC-CFTC Crypto Work
September 30, 2025
Bloomberg
Google Settles Trump Suit for $24.5 Mln
September 29, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Javice: 7 Years for Fraud on JPMorgan
September 29, 2025
Dealbook
EA’s $55 Bln Buyout Is Biggest Ever
September 29, 2025
The Governance Beat
Texas Probes ISS, Glass Lewis on ESG
September 29, 2025
Financial Times
Let Market Set Reporting Frequency
September 29, 2025
Bloomberg
EA Buyout Talk Highlights Gaming Fall
September 28, 2025
Reuters
Boeing Settles Wrongful-Death Suit
September 28, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Regulators Scrutinize Unusual Trading Ahead of Crypto-Treasury Deals
September 28, 2025
Business Law Prof Blog
Nevada Forms Biz Court Commission
September 28, 2025
Bloomberg
Trump Order Puts TikTok at $14 Billion
September 25, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Autos Flash US Economy Warning Sign
September 25, 2025
Cleary M&A Watch
To Arbitrate or Not? Firms Can Choose
September 25, 2025
Dealbook
Germany Woos Indian Workers US Scared
September 25, 2025
Freshfields' A Fresh Take
SEC Case Tests Private Fund Managers
September 25, 2025
MSNBC
Comey Indictment Expected Soon
September 24, 2025
Bloomberg
Intel Seeks Investment From Apple
September 24, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Trial Lawyers Breaking Up With Big Law
September 24, 2025
The Governance Beat
ExxonMobil Files Solicitation Materials for Retail Opt-In Voting Program
September 24, 2025
Insurance Journal
SEC: Online RadioShack a Ponzi Scheme
September 24, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Sinclair, Nexstar Won’t Air Kimmel
September 23, 2025
Delaware Business Litigation Report
Chancery Partially Vacates Expert’s Findings in Acquisition Price Dispute
September 23, 2025
Dealbook
New Meta PAC Aims to Boost AI
September 23, 2025
Bloomberg
No Quarterly Reports Portends Shakeup
September 23, 2025
Bloomberg
SEC Chief Seeks Crypto Rule Exemption
September 23, 2025
Bloomberg
IPOs Revive, Private Market Still Soars
September 22, 2025
Reuters
Nvidia to Put Up to $100 Bln in OpenAI
September 22, 2025
Wall Street Journal
Treasury Boss Hints at Argentina Rescue
September 22, 2025
New York Times
H-1B Visa Tiff Roils Firms, Geopolitics
September 22, 2025
D&O Diary
Killing Quarterly Reports Is a Bad Idea
September 21, 2025
Bloomberg
SEC Drops Allen Stanford-Related Case
September 21, 2025
Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog
Chancery: Personal CEO Data Irrelevant
September 21, 2025
Deal Lawyers.com
How Big Beautiful Bill Affects M&A
September 21, 2025
Business Law Prof Blog
Texas Puts Culture Over Governance
September 21, 2025
Wall Street Journal
California Seeks End to Oil Firms Exit
September 18, 2025
Bloomberg
FTC Sues Ticketmaster, Live Nation Over Ticket Resales
September 18, 2025
Reuters
Nvidia Takes $5 Billion Stake in Intel
September 18, 2025
Delaware Business Litigation Report
Delaware Chancery Dismisses Suit for Failure to Claim Demand Futility
September 18, 2025
MSN
Ex-SEC Chair Warns Twice-a-Year Reporting Will Make Markets Volatile
September 18, 2025
Reuters
Fed Cuts Interest Rates, More to Come
September 17, 2025
Dealbook
Fed Chair Has Internal Challenges Too
September 17, 2025
The Governance Beat
SEC Warns Foreign Firms on Accounting
September 17, 2025
Wall Street Journal
End to Quarterly Reports No Sure Bet
September 17, 2025
Business Law Prof Blog
SEC OKs Arbitration in Bylaws, Charter
September 17, 2025

BLOG ROLL

  • Business Law Prof Blog
  • Corporate & Securities Law Blog
  • DealLawyers
  • Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog
  • Gibson Dunn Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor
  • Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
  • How Appealing
  • PubCo @ Cooley
  • Securities Docket
  • Sidley Enhanced Scrutiny Blog
  • The D&O Diary
  • Truth on the Market
The Blue Sky Blog is Sponsored by Columbia Law School's Center on Corporate Governance.
Blwag 100 badge
Crown image Columbia Law School
Home About Contact Subscribe or Manage Your Subscription RSS Email Twitter
Powered by WordPress VIP
© Copyright 2025, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.