Reading Proxy Statements

A proxy statement prepares shareholders with essential information needed to for decision making before an upcoming shareholder meeting. In response to increased criticism of high levels of executive compensation, in 2006 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set disclosure rules to clearly present the compensation of the principal executive officer (PEO), principal financial officer (PFO) and the top three highest paid executives for publicly traded companies. Many enhancements have been made over the years in response to legislation and to provide more information to shareholders. Disclosure also makes boards and compensation committees more accountable to shareholders for their actions related to executive rewards philosophies, policies, programs and decisions. Now in its sixth edition, the Handbook for Reading & Preparing Proxy Statements provides an overview of the SEC rules and explains what needs to be reported. It offers practical guidance to help companies prepare their disclosures and helps those reading proxies to really understand and interpret the information companies report. This useful resource covers all these interrelated components of proxy statements: - Compensation committee governance - Compensation discussion and analysis (CD&A) - CD&A material matters - Summary compensation table - Other tables and detail.