TheCorporateCounsel.net

October 10, 2002

Three items today…

1. NYSE Rule Proposal on Option Plan Approval – We have posted the NYSE proposal filed with the SEC regarding shareholder approval of equity compensation plans at http://www.realcorporatelawyer.com/nyseequityplans.pdf. The proposal is not on the SEC web site or in the Federal Register yet.

The SEC said it is expected to be published in the Federal Register this week. The NYSE Pilot expires on October 30th, so the SEC is soliciting comments with the goal of having this proposal in effect by around that date.

2. SEC Open Meeting – Next Wednesday, the 16th, the SEC is having an Open Meeting to consider proposals relating to Sections 303, 404, 406 and 407 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 – relating to annual internal control reports; disclosure regarding whether a company has adopted a code of ethics that applies to certain senior officers; disclosure regarding whether a company has a financial expert on its audit committee; and prohibitions on officers, directors, and persons acting under the direction of an officer or director, from taking any action to fraudulently influence, coerce, manipulate or mislead the auditor of the issuer’s financial statements for the purpose of rendering those financial statements materially misleading. See more @ http://www.sec.gov/news/digest/10-09.txt.

3. Democrats call for Chairman Pitt to be Removed – Democratic leaders of the House and Senate sent a letter to President Bush asking that Chairman Pitt be removed over his handling of possible nominations to the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. See more @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3442-2002Oct9.html.