A transcript of TheCorporateCounsel.net’s March 2nd webcast, with experts Keith Bishop, Partner, Allen Matkins LLP, Carl Hagberg, Independent Inspector of Elections and Editor of The Shareholder Service Optimizer, Roxanne Houtman, Partner, Potter Anderson Corroon LLP, and Jill Whitney, VP – Client Services, Broadridge.
Did you know that there are at least eight kinds of proxy tabulators out there these days?
Start with a rigorous, numbers-oriented analysis of your company’s shareholder base – ninety days before the record date, and again, as of the record date.
And on Allowing Non-Shareholders to Submit Shareholder Proposals as “Proxies”: Time for Some Tough Talk, We Say
Or Of What To Say And Do If Some Results Seem “Too Close To Call?”….Very Smart To Do These Days
ISSUERS; BEWARE OF GETTING WHAT YOU WISH FOR, WE WARN…
Q&A with Bruce H. Goldfard, President & CEO of Okapi Partners
Ron Schneider, Director of Corporate Governance Services, Donnelley Financial Solutions
An Interview with John Dunn, Vice President, U.S. Corporate Issuer Sales at Broadridge.
With annual meetings being top of mind for many companies at this time of the year, the Optimizer sat down with John Dunn, Vice President, US Corporate Issuer Sales at Broadridge to get his perspective and learn what is new at the company.
It’s been a long time since we last shared our top tips on choosing a proxy solicitation/proxy advisory firm…And wow…the industry has changed a lot since then…not least in terms of the specific “talent” that each firm has on board, as noted above…which, please note well, is the number-one thing that proxy firms have to offer.
Despite the relatively quiet season on the whole, we, and our Team of 50 Independent Inspectors of Election, experienced more weird and wacky events than ever before – and more events where corporate managers, and in many cases their outside counsel too, seemed way behind the curve.
“Do not try this at home” – even if you think you have a good safety net: You will almost certainly find yourself “in over your head” one day, you will likely leave a lot of votes ‘on the table’ as unvoted…and, worst of all, your tabulation will have virtually no credibility if challenged.
Interview with Bruce Goldfarb, President & CEO of Okapi Partners
And Those Dangerous “Floor Votes” Too… Very Badly Advised!
By Ron Schneider, Director, Corporate Governance Services, RR Donnelley
SCAMSTERS MASQUERADING AS INVESTORS MANUFACTURE PROXY VOTES IN A FAILED AT EMPT TO SEAL A DEAL…THE BIG SURPRISE? NOTHING REALLY NEW HERE: WHO’S WATCHING THE PROXY BIZ ANYWAY?
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.
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.
Getting Out The “Employee Vote”… Including Votes From Officers… And Directors…
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.
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
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”
Listen to hear their insights on this year’s annual meeting season.