Street Reform

After almost a year of wrangling, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted into law in mid-July. Among other requirements, the act includes provisions related to mandatory say-on-pay requirements, clawback policies, and matters regarding shareholder access to a company’s proxy statement.

It is clear that these and the other provisions of the act represent significant changes to the federal proxy rules, and the significant changes are expected to be applicable to the 2011 proxy season. Accordingly, companies are advised to monitor the anticipated rulemaking by the SEC, but not wait until 2011 to start thinking about the impact that the act and the related rules will have on their executive compensation and corporate governance policies.