Long-term readers will recall, we hope, our many articles on “The Best and Worst Annual Meeting Materials to Cross Our Desk” each year – many of which inspired readers to do better, we were told – many of which engendered hearty belly-laughs – and some of which inspired pure pity, for the poor fools who’d fouled up badly.
Corporate Secretaries, meeting planners, IRO folks andothergovernanceprofessionalsaskabout Annual Meeting Briefing-Book practices at virtually every conference on such matters we’ve ever attended.
In late March, your editor attended a dinner meeting where a very, very lively discussion of the newest and “hottest topics” that attendees feel are out there on the Annual Meeting front super- charged the entire evening.
Pity poor Citi – whose top management team – and board – were taken totally by surprise when the Fed refused to allow Citi to increase the quarterly dividend from a measly penny a share and to buy back shares to prop up the stock – as everyone, including the investor community, was confidently expecting – and where the bombshell dropped just a few weeks before Citi’s annual meeting.
Getting Out The “Employee Vote”… Including Votes From Officers… And Directors…
Our Top 10 Tips For A Safe And Orderly Meeting
A Deciding Factor In Close Elections
How To Get Started, The Process And The Rewards.
Signs Of The Times, To Note With Care, We Say
The Fast Growing Need To Assess Board Composition, Director Tenure And Individual Director Effectiveness.
More ill-winds seem to be sweeping the streets in the run-up to the spring meeting season: So far this year, four well-known companies have sued gadfly John Chevedden, seeking to block his non-binding proposals from coming to a vote: EMC Corp., Express Scripts Holding Co., Omnicom Group, Inc. and Chipotle Mexican Grill.
A Quick Overview Of The Spring 2014 Annual Meeting Season: “The Year Of The Associates”… And Several Scary Instances Of Investors ‘Using The Clock’ To Take Companies By Surprise… And Oops… Hostile Takeover Attempts Are Back
What Every Public Company Need To Know And Do If Activists “Reach Out To Them”.
The subject of how to prepare for – and what, exactly to do – if an activist investor knocks on your door – has been a very hot one of late.
Our Top 10 Tips For Dealing With Them
Top Of Board Agendas… But None Of The Checklists We’Ve Seen Address The Way Their Key Vendors Guard, Or Maybe Fail To Guard The Security Of Their Most Sensitive Records… Our Tips
Every year for at least the past five years we have been trying to highlight some of the many cases we see each year – including most of our annual “Horror Stories”
Whoopee! After the press began to shine increasingly strong spotlights on the collection, sale and use of advance looks at potentially market-moving data…
Boom! The acquisition by number-one T-A Computershare of Registrar & Transfer Company’s stock transfer business – along with its Commerce Financial Printers unit and R&T’s relatively new Eagle Rock Proxy Advisors business – dropped with a big loud bang in May
“Ah Feel Gooood!” – Finding The Real James Brown, And Reuniting Him With Almost A Half-Million Dollars In Unclaimed Property…A Nifty Story – And One That’s Still Contains A Valuable Takeaway On Abandoned Property
An update from Alvin Santiago, SSA Board Member and Manager, Treasury Service, Fortune Brands Home Security Services.
Advice From Bill Fiske of Georgeson, Bruce Goldfarb of Okapi Partners, Tom Germinario of D.F. King, Michael Mackey of Alliance Advisors, Ron Schneider of RR Donnelley and Artie Regan of Regan & Associates.
Interview With Sister Patricia A. Daly, OP Executive Director, Tri-State Coalition
