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On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law. The bill contains a number of provisions related to accountability and executive compensation which will require additional disclosures by public companies. One such provision relates to the disclosure of hedging by employees and directors.
As initially proposed in the Senate bill, disclosure of employee and director hedging is included in Section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 955 amends Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act to require the SEC to adopt rules requiring proxy disclosure of whether any employees or directors of the company or their designees are permitted to purchase financial instruments (including prepaid variable forward contracts, equity swaps, collars, and exchange funds) designed to hedge or offset any decrease in the market value of equity securities granted as compensation or held directly or indirectly by the employee or director. Actual hedging transactions need not be disclosed.
Some insider trading policies currently prohibit these transactions, but largely with respect to executive officers and directors but not employees. The new disclosure requirement may prompt public companies to revise current polices or adopt new policies to prohibit hedging transactions for directors and employees.
Item 403 of Regulation S-K currently requires public companies to disclose whether their executive officers and directors have pledged any shares, which includes disclosure of hedging transactions in certain circumstances. Additionally, Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act currently requires executive officers and directors to disclose transactions in derivative securities (such as puts, calls, warrants, convertible securities, or other rights or obligations to buy or sell securities) on beneficial ownership reports.
The Dodd-Frank Act does not specify a deadline as to when the SEC is required to issue these rules.
Day Pitney Advisory
Day Pitney Advisory
On October 5, partner Ellen Knarr served as a panelist at the St. John's University School of Law Women's Leadership Boot Camp, presented by the Women's Law Society.
On January 19, Michael Rave will be speaking at the Economic Leadership Forum, presented by the New Jersey Bankers Association.
Jed Davis was quoted in an article, "5 Ways To Keep Cybersecurity Woes From Derailing A Deal," published in Law360.
David Waizer was quoted in an article, Venture Capital Exec Returns To Day Pitney As Partner, published in Law360.
Day Pitney Press Release
Michael Rave was quoted in an article, "Why Small Banks Are Rushing to Issue Subordinated Debt," in American Banker. Community banks are taking on more subordinated debt because interest payments are tax-deductible and the issues help bolster Tier 2 capital ratios, explains Rave in the report. Most buyers are pension funds, mutual funds and other community banks. "There's a lot of interest in them from institutional investors and investment banks are really pushing it," said Rave.
Stamford, Conn., August 24, 2015 - Day Pitney is pleased to announce that 68 attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2016 Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers ranks lawyers through peer-review surveys, and has been published annually since 1983.
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This website may use cookies, pixel tags and other passive tracking technologies, including Google Analytics, to improve functionality and performance. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. By using our website, you are consenting to our use of these tracking technologies. You can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse to accept cookies, but if you do so, it is possible that some areas of web sites that use cookies will not function properly when you view them. To learn more about how to delete and manage cookies, refer to the support instructions for each browser (e.g., see AllAboutCookies.org). You may locate Google Analytics' currently available opt-outs for the web here.