Haynes Boone Partner Bruce Newsome talked with Law360 about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) busy regulatory slate in the new year.
Here is an excerpt:
Among the more contested battles on the SEC’s menu is a proposal that would increase regulation of proxy advisory firms, which are third parties that sell voting advice to asset managers who own stakes in hundreds of public companies or more.
An SEC divided on party lines approved a proposal on Nov. 5 that would require proxy firms to improve disclosure of conflicts of interests, allow corporations to review and respond to proxy firm recommendations before a shareholder vote, and codify that proxy firms could be liable for fraud if they make materially misleading statements when attempting to influence votes. The SEC on the same day also submitted a plan to raise thresholds on shareholder proposals, increasing minimum requirements that haven’t been adjusted in decades.
“My bet is that these [proposals] will become final rules in some sort of form next year,” Haynes Boone Partner Bruce Newsome said.
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