Sweeping Regulatory Changes Affecting Director Elections, Executive Compensation and Climate Disclosures ... What Can Go Wrong?

A very active SEC enacted significant new rules affecting director elections and executive compensation disclosure in 2022, and appears poised to enact new climate disclosure requirements in 2023.

If embraced and executed with care, these new regulatory requirements can elevate a company’s reputation in the eyes of investors and other stakeholders. Alternatively, they can expose a company, its executives and its board to unwanted scrutiny and risks.

In this article, Ron Schneider, DFIN’s Director of Corporate Governance Services, describes these new rules, and importantly, “what can go wrong” if they are not handled with care.