Clifford Chance
Corporate Update
24 July 2012
The first half of 2012 has seen a heightened focus on the question of executive pay. Over the last six months, the Government has been honing its plans for the introduction of new regulation in this area. Most notably, shareholders are to be given a binding vote on a company’s future pay policy (which would include a say on exit payments). At the same time, we have seen a so-called “shareholder spring” with investors being more vocal than ever during the 2012 AGM season with record numbers of directors’ remuneration reports being voted down and a significant number of protest votes. See our Company Law Update for further information.
Also in the news is the issue of “wall crossing”, the practice of making a person an “insider” by providing them with inside information. A number of high profile FSA market abuse prosecutions have brought into sharp focus the risks involved for companies and their advisers when engaging with shareholders and other investors about potentially price sensitive matters which are not yet in the public domain. For further details see our Regulatory Update.
These issues, along with a host of other recent legal and regulatory developments
of interest to corporates and their advisers, are discussed in this edition of Corporate Update.
