TheCorporateCounsel.net

October 14, 2009

Basics of Calculating Impact of Loss of Broker Nonvotes

Helping you to gear up for a difficult proxy season, I have decided to start a weekly proxy solicitor podcast series. Each week, a new podcast with cover a hot topic that you may well face soon – with practical guidance from a proxy solicitor to help you navigate troubled waters. Here is the second installment in our series:

In this podcast, Tom Ball of Morrow & Co. explains the basics of the mechanics of counting broker non-votes and it’s implications for companies this proxy season, including:

– What is an example of how the math should be done to determine the impact of the loss of discretionary broker votes on a specific company?
– What type of companies – size, market cap, stock price, industries – may be impacted the most by the loss of broker nonvotes?

Please take a moment to participate in our “Quick Survey on Impact of Loss of Broker Nonvotes for ’10 Proxy Season.”

XBRL US Proposes New US GAAP Elements for Latest FASB Pronouncements

Recently, XBRL US announced that it has published a set of over 200 new elements – known as “US GAAP Taxonomy 2009 Addendum-1” – to reflect new FASB accounting standard changes issued since December 31, 2008. Some of these new standards are eligible for early adoption by public companies for annual and interim periods ending on or prior to December 31, 2009. These elements are out for public comment, but likely will be adopted as proposed.

The new FASB standards incorporated include only those that are deemed critical for companies preparing financial statements before the US GAAP Taxonomy 2010 is published. The XBRL US GAAP Taxonomy is published once each year to avoid confusion over which release should be used and to ensure the greatest comparability of data. In the event of a substantial number of new accounting standards, XBRL US publishes an addendum taxonomy such as this one, so that companies that need to use the new FASB pronouncements do not have to create new extensions and so that every company using the new standard uses the same element.

How to Sell a Division: Nuts & Bolts

We have posted the transcript for our recent DealLawyers.com webcast: “How to Sell a Division: Nuts & Bolts.”

– Broc Romanek