TheCorporateCounsel.net

September 19, 2017

Course Materials: The “Pay Ratio Employee Considerations” Guide

For those registered for the upcoming “Pay Ratio & Proxy Disclosure Conference,” we have just posted this invaluable set of course materials: The “Pay Ratio Employee Considerations” Guide. For many companies, the biggest issue related to the new pay ratio rule is how to message employees who might be angry about how their pay relates to the pay ratio median – not to mention the CEO’s pay package.

We decided to release these course materials early since so many are grappling now with the type of issues addressed in this “How to” manual. This topic will be addressed numerous times during the two days of the upcoming “Pay Ratio & Proxy Disclosure Conference” in mid-October – and it will also be addressed in our third pre-conference webcast coming up next week (on Wednesday, September 27th).

More Course Materials: “How to” Pay Ratio Manual (w/ 138 Practice Nuggets) – For those registered for the upcoming “Pay Ratio & Proxy Disclosure Conference,” we have just posted this invaluable set of course materials: “How to” Pay Ratio Manual (w/ 138 Practice Nuggets). This is 55-pages of practice pointers that you need now to prepare for pay ratio.

We decided to release these course materials early since so many are grappling now with the type of issues addressed in this “How to” manual. Just like the upcoming “Pay Ratio & Proxy Disclosure Conference” in October will comprehensively address these – and many more – issues. This comprehensive pay ratio event is one that you can’t afford to miss. Also remember that our third pre-conference webcast is September 27th.

Register Now: This is the only comprehensive conference devoted to pay ratio. Here’s the registration information for the “Pay Ratio & Proxy Disclosure Conference” to be held October 17-18th in Washington DC and via Live Nationwide Video Webcast. Here are the agendas – 20 panels over two days. Register today.

Sustainability Reporting: Internal Controls

The push for sustainability reporting continues to gain momentum – see last month’s blog about the G20 recommendations. But one largely unresolved question is how to go about verifying the data that would be included in this type of disclosure. This 55-page white paper examines how to use COSO’s internal controls framework to improve confidence in sustainability performance data. Here’s a teaser:

Sustainability performance (or related nonfinancial data) has unique characteristics. It is less tangible and more qualitative than financial performance data—although sustainability data is often quantifiable, as reported by companies in sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. It is also more forward-looking, covering multiple time periods, and often more manually sourced.

To improve confidence in sustainability performance data, a different “lens” on assurance and materiality may need to be taken relative to financial data, with professional judgment at the forefront. We believe the COSO principles on effectiveness—controls that are present, functioning, and integrated—could apply to all types of performance data, including sustainability, using professional judgment.

Yet “sustainability” has many—and often confusing or conflicting—definitions. Is it sustainability of the enterprise, thereby impacting reputation and “license to operate”? Is it about specific sustainability measures like climate control or deployment of human capital? Does it capture ESG measures? Is it all of the above?

Despite the confusing and sometimes conflicting lexicon, which we don’t attempt to solve in this paper, there is one important commonality: Sustainability performance data, combined with financial data, is important for the organization to manage and to (voluntarily) communicate its value-creation capacity and capability to global stakeholders.

If you’re grappling with sustainability tracking & reporting, tune in for our October 10th webcast: “E&S Disclosures: The In-House Perspective.”

Say-on-Frequency: Remember to File Your “Decision” 8-K/A!

Many companies held a “say-on-frequency” vote in 2017. If you fall in that category and haven’t already disclosed your frequency decision – now’s the time! Here’s an excerpt from this Davis Polk memo:

If the company does not report its decision in the initial Form 8-K, the due date for the Form 8-K/A is the earlier of 150 days after the annual meeting and 60 days before the next Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposal deadline, as disclosed by the company in its proxy statement. This deadline is rapidly approaching for many companies that held annual meetings in May 2017.

Failure to comply with these Form 8-K deadlines results in a loss of Form S-3 shelf eligibility. In 2011, many companies overlooked the requirement to disclose their decision on the frequency of say-on-pay votes, assuming that since the shareholder advisory vote matched the board’s recommendation, no further disclosure was necessary. Because the SEC staff recognized that many companies simply hadn’t understood this disclosure requirement, the staff routinely granted waivers of the shelf eligibility defect. It is not yet clear how the staff will handle similar waiver requests this year.

Liz Dunshee