TheCorporateCounsel.net

Ever since Delaware amended its corporate statute to permit charter amendments exculpating certain officers from damages liability for certain duty of care breaches, companies and their advisors have been anxious to see how ISS & Glass Lewis would react. Glass Lewis became the first firm to definitively address this issue when it issued its 2023 Policy Guidelines last week. Is Glass Lewis on board? Not really:

Under Section 102(b)(7), a corporation must affirmatively elect to include an exculpation provision in its certificate of incorporation. We will closely evaluate proposals to adopt officer exculpation provisions on a case-by-case basis. We will generally recommend voting against such proposals eliminating monetary liability for breaches of the duty of care for certain corporate officers, unless compelling rationale for the adoption is provided by the board, and the provisions are reasonable.

I guess that’s not a definitive no, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I were you.

– John Jenkins