TheCorporateCounsel.net

In this 11-minute podcast, Ning Chiu of Davis Polk does a great job of boiling down the corporate governance and executive compensation provisions that apply to all US public listed companies in the recently passed Senate reform bill, the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.”

Not only does Ning compare the differences between the Senate and House bills, but she identifies which provisions aren’t all that clear – and she notes which provisions are more likely to sail through and which may be altered before Congress reconciles the two bills. Finally, Ning notes the practical consequences for companies of these provisions.

Timing News about IFRS and GAAP Convergence Project

Here is news from Tom White of WilmerHale:

Yesterday, the IASB and FASB issued a joint statement about the status of their project to converge US GAAP and IFRS. As noted in the statement, in November 2009, the two standard setters set June 2011 as the target date to complete all major convergence projects. Stakeholders expressed concerns about their ability to provide input on the large number of exposure drafts of standards that are planned for publication in the second quarter of this year. The standard setters therefore are developing a modified strategy to prioritize projects and stagger the publication of exposure drafts. The result is that completion of some projects will be extended past June 2011.

Shortly afterward, SEC Chair Schapiro issued a statement. She indicated that she did not believe these modifications to the timetable for the convergence project will impact the SEC Staff’s ability to execute its work plan issued in February 2010. She also stated that these developments would not affect the SEC’s ability to make a determination in 2011 about whether to incorporate IFRS into the financial reporting system for US issuers.

More on our “Proxy Season Blog”

With the proxy season wrapping up, we are winding down our “Proxy Season Blog” for TheCorporateCounsel.net members. Members can sign up to get that blog pushed out to them via email whenever there is a new entry by simply inputting their email address on the left side of that blog. Here are some of the latest entries:

– Notes From Google’s Annual Meeting: Good Food!
– Will Google Sidewiki Change IROs’ E-Communication Patterns?
– SEC Not Swayed by Companies’ Post-Apache Arguments
– Study: Electing Directors
– More on “Surfing Champion Surfaces in a Proxy Filing”
– A New Site for Shareholders: Lemonjuice.biz

– Broc Romanek