On November 10, 2010, the United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) released a Model Proxy Access Proposal that can be presented to corporations for a shareowner vote under SEC Rule 14a-8 to ensure that long-term shareowners have a reasonable, but not necessarily easy, means for including board nominations in the proxy materials those corporations distribute—so called “proxy access.”

The Model Proposal is designed to…

Shareowners of the World: Unite!

Take a moment to read my comments at the end of the blog---I mention this ShareOwners.org as one organizing tool.  Jeffrey McCord is spot on in his comments about the role of governance.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced they introduced legislation to end tax breaks for stock options. As pointed out by Paul Hodgson – Chief Communications Officer of The Corporate Library:

Since they are considered performance-related pay, stock option expense is…

The United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) released draft guidelines for shareowners to use in making say-on-pay voting decisions. Comment letters are due by June 2nd to contact@proxyexchange.org. Please put “Say-on-Pay Guidelines” in the e-mail subject line. Letters…

Ernst & Young estimates in a new publication [pdf] that half of all shareholder proposals in 2011 will deal with environmental and social issues, and support for these proposals is growing. In fact, “83 percent of investors now believe environmental and social factors can have a significant impact on shareholder value over the long…

If you are a Royal Caribbean (RCL) shareowner or no anyone who is, I hope you will consider voting in favor of my proposal to extend Say on Pay to non-executive members of the board. 

Please vote  Yes on Item 5 on the proxy.

Thank you for your support!

Yes, that's right, Trillion with a "t". The +250 page report by Boston Consulting Group that looks at the current status of SEC productivity, ability and need for reform. They conclude that the SEC under current funding has to reprioritize and make some tough choices, or Congress needs to redefine their role or provide better funding. Period. They call the recommended reprioritization the "no regrets" initiatives.

The number of staff at the SEC declined from the end of 2005…

United PanAm Financial: How MBO 'Take-Unders' Freeze Out Shareowners

With interest rates at secular low levels and an economy rebounding from recession, the stage is set for a buyout wave by managements who are the first on the scene to see the light at the end of the recessionary tunnel. These insiders become aware of the turnaround in a company's operating prospects long before most board members and shareowners.

There is a coming tsunami of management buyout (MBO) bids…

Cuts Would Come As Agencies Tackle Implementation of Most Sweeping U.S. Financial Reforms Since the Great Depression

WASHINGTON, D.C.///February 16, 2011/// Warning of the danger of a major setback in efforts to restore U.S. financial market integrity and the confidence of individual and other investors, ShareOwners.org (http://www.ShareOwners.org) in cooperation with the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the…

Penny-Wise and Pound Foolish? Cuts Would Come As Agencies Tackle Implementation of Most Sweeping U.S. Financial Reforms Since the Great Depression

WASHINGTON, D.C.///NEWS ADVISORY/// A major Web-based campaign to save the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from the impact of proposed budget cuts will be launched at 1 p.m. Wednesday (February 16, 2011) by ShareOwners.org (…

Months after Pershing and Vornado acquired a combined 26.4% stake in  the company, J.C. Penney has announced plans to give board seats to Ackman and Roth, principals of these firms.

Penney's has worked with the investors according to reports, but the Penney's board also recently adopted a poison pill, limiting the acquistion of shares for the activist investors.

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