June 14, 2004
Appeal of Staff Exclusion of
As noted in this press release, the Service Employees International Union is appealing Corp Fin’s exclusion of a shareholder proposal to the full Commission. The precatory proposal urged Crescent Real Estate Equities’s board to implement a comprehensive policy governing related party transactions between Crescent and any officer or director, which would require annual disclosure in a separate report to shareholders. Corp Fin had excluded the proposal as ordinary business under Rule 14a-8(i)(7).
Impact of Friday Holiday on Tender Offers?
A reader asked if the Presidential declaration of an unscheduled federal holiday is not a business day for purposes of the 20 business day period that tender offers must remain open, like Friday’s memorial day for President Reagan. [In addition to the memorial day for President Reagan, the day before or after Christmas is sometimes declared to be a federal holiday by a Presidential executive order.]
It is my understanding that the SEC staff takes the position that if the offer is ongoing, you can still count the unscheduled Friday holiday in the 20 days. But you shouldn’t have ended the offer or started it on Friday.