Financial Services Update
August 27, 2010
Authored by: Matt Jessee
Bernanke Promises More Fed Action on Economy
On Friday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed panel that Bernanke leads and which sets interest rates, could make additional purchases of longer-term securities in order to prevent deflation. In regards to the overall state of the economy, Bernanke said “the pre-conditions for a pickup of growth in 2011 appear to remain in place, as banks increase lending, worries over the European sovereign debt-crisis abate and consumers increase their savings.”
SEC Votes to Give Shareholders “Proxy Access”
On Wednesday, the SEC Commissioners voted along party lines 3-2 to give shareholders what is commonly known as “proxy access,” which requires companies to include the names of all board nominees, even those not backed by the company, directly on the standard corporate ballots distributed before shareholder annual meetings. To win the right to nominate, an investor or group of investors must own at least 3% of a company’s stock and have held the shares for a minimum of three years.
Currently, shareholders who want to oust board members must pay for mailing separate ballots, as well as wage a separate campaign to win shareholder support. The new rule will be in place in time for the 2011 annual meeting season next spring.
However, the final rule did address concerns from the business community. Smaller companies will be exempt from complying with the rule for three years. Investors will be prevented from borrowing stock to meet the 3% threshold and will be restricted to nominating directors for no more than a quarter of a company’s board.