A number of boards are facing votes related to their companies’ political activities this year as the temperature surrounding companies in the political sphere keeps heating up. Already this year, shareholders have voted on two proposals as big companies — Hewlett Packard Enterprise and The Walt Disney Company — related to political activity, which garnered… Continue reading Political Proposals Pile Onto Proxies
Tag: DEF 14A Proxy
Perk Problems Ensnare Another Company as SEC Clarifies Covid-19 Impact
This week the SEC announced charges against Hilton Worldwide Holdings for failing to disclose approximately $1.7 million worth of perquisites related to personal use of the company’s corporate jet and executive hotel stays. The commission says the hotelier “failed to appropriately apply the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules to its system for identifying, tracking and calculating perquisites.”
This enforcement action and a recently released compliance and disclosure interpretation (CD&I) outlining some pertinent perquisite issues that may come up during the Covid-19 pandemic are signals that the commission is focusing on perk identification and disclosure, sources say. Governance experts suggest that compensation committees take a closer look at perquisite disclosures, particularly surrounding jet use in light of these enforcement actions and travel impacts stemming from the pandemic.
…According to disclosures made in 2020 and analyzed by public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ, only 26 companies specifically disclosed aircraft travel in perquisite calculations.
Pandemic Prompts Review of Jet Travel
While many executives continue to work from home, data shows that travel by corporate aircraft and chartered and fractionally owned jet fleets has begun to take off in recent weeks. That trend is likely to continue through 2020 as companies seek to reduce the risk of CEOs’ being exposed to the coronavirus. Accordingly, sources say boards should take a renewed look at corporate aircraft and private jet travel policies.
Meanwhile, the SEC has spent the past several years pursuing enforcement actions stemming from the improper disclosure of executives’ personal use of corporate aircraft, as Agenda has reported, creating a dynamic governance issue that is ripe for scrutiny.
“There has been a lot of pressure in recent years to keep [aircraft perquisite] figures down, so this is a perk that over the years has been in decline, along with country clubs and other things,” says Alan Johnson, CEO of compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates. “But I think the long-lasting implications of the pandemic are going to change everything. There’s business use of the planes, which is going to accelerate dramatically because there are fewer commercial flights … this is a different world.”
Did We Say $1.5 Million? We Meant $10.9 Million. Firms Fix CEO Pay Flubs
When Laboratory Corp. of America LH 3.61% disclosed pay for its chief executive in March, the company said he made $1.5 million in 2016. A week later, the diagnostic-lab chain filed a new document listing his pay at $10.9 million. Chief Executive David King didn’t get a retroactive raise. His employer just proofread its work. Such a big discrepancy… Continue reading Did We Say $1.5 Million? We Meant $10.9 Million. Firms Fix CEO Pay Flubs