US court rejects SEC rule on board nominees

Legal News Center

A federal appeals court has struck down a rule adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission that gave shareholders more power to nominate board directors.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the SEC was "arbitrary and capricious" in implementing the rule, which was widely supported by investor advocates. Judge Douglas Ginsburg said the SEC failed to estimate the cost to companies to campaign against investors' nominations.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, a trade group of CEOs for the nation's largest companies, had challenged the rule, which was mandated under the financial overhaul passed by Congress last year.

A spokesman for the SEC said the agency is reviewing the decision and considering its options.

Supporters of the rule said it was necessary because risky corporate behavior, particularly on Wall Street, was a leading cause of the 2008 financial crisis. Getting candidates on the board would give investors a better shot at influencing company policy.

The rule would have allowed investors owning at least 3 percent of a company's stock to put their nominees for board seats on the annual proxy ballot sent to all shareholders. Before the Securities and Exchange Commission acted on the rule, investors had to appeal to shareholders at their own expense.

Related listings

  • Mayor of NM town pleads guilty to gun smuggling

    Mayor of NM town pleads guilty to gun smuggling

    Legal News Center 07/14/2011

    The former mayor of a small New Mexico border town has pleaded guilty to charges he participated in a gun smuggling ring that federal prosecutors said sent hundreds of guns into Mexico, authorities said Wednesday. Eddie Espinoza faces 65 years in pri...

  • Montana Supreme Court hires new administrator

    Montana Supreme Court hires new administrator

    Legal News Center 07/13/2011

    The Montana Supreme Court has a hired a new court administrator for the state's judicial branch. The court named Beth McLaughlin, who had been the director of court services, as the replacement for Lois Menzies, who retired last month. In her new pos...

  • Feds eye CIA officer in prisoner death

    Feds eye CIA officer in prisoner death

    Legal News Center 07/13/2011

    A CIA officer who oversaw the agency's interrogation program at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and pushed for approval to use increasingly harsh tactics has come under scrutiny in a federal war crimes investigation involving the death of a prisoner, w...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

St Peters, MO Professional License Attorney Attorney John Lynch has been the go-to choice for many professionals facing administrative sanction. >> read