Financial Regulatory Forum

SEC examiners enter U.S. boardrooms to gauge compliance

By Nick Paraskeva

NEW YORK, April 4 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to reach into the boardroom to assess a financial firm’s culture of compliance, a senior commission official told a conference in New York.

The agency, departing from traditional practice to take a page from bank regulators, intends to have direct discussions with the firm’s board about the regulatory issues board members and senior management team are paying attention to, and how they are navigating them. (more…)

Corporate Governance: proxy advisory guidelines and the shifting landscape of benchmarking executive compensation

By Alex Lee

NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (Business Law Currents) – Last year’s introduction of say-on-pay regulations via Dodd-Frank helped to arm shareholders with the capacity to disapprove compensation policies, but the SEC’s evolving compensation disclosure regulations and recent updates from proxy advisory firms’ guidelines indicate that executive compensation remains a key issue. While the post-Lehman headlines of public outrage and calls for legislative scrutiny over executive compensation may have waned, now more than ever, companies need to exercise great care when considering executive compensation policies.

Boards are stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they must recruit, retain, incentivize, and properly compensate prized executives. On the other, the must deal with a growing public animosity towards excessive executive compensation and shareholder unrest, especially in periods where companies are not performing optimally. (more…)

Corporate boards seek a few good generals- directors’ group recruits military

By Stuart Gittleman

NEW YORK, Jan. 12 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) — The National Association of Corporate Directors has launched a program to recruit generals and admirals for membership on boards of directors, with the aim of advancing standards of professionalism and increasing diversity of perspective, the group said Thursday.

The first program will be held Tuesday, February 28 through Thursday, March 1 in Washington, DC. Interested veteran and active-duty military flag and general officers can request an invitation and review the agenda, speakers and program details by clicking here.

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