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Public Chatter

Public Chatter provides practical guidance—and the latest developments—to those grappling with public company securities law and corporate governance issues, through content developed from an in-house perspective.

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In-House Corner: Shareholder Engagement

This feature of our blog is where our in-house readers share tips, anecdotes and thoughts about things that come up in their daily practice. This particular batch of thoughts is about shareholder engagement [feel free to ping me and share your thoughts – they will be posted anonymously or with attribution, whichever you desire]:

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In-House Corner: Proxy Drafting Tips – Part 2

This feature of our blog is where our in-house readers share tips, anecdotes and thoughts about things that come up in their daily practice.

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In-House Corner: Proxy Drafting Tips

This feature of our blog is where our in-house readers share tips, anecdotes and thoughts about things that come up in their daily practice. This particular batch of thoughts is about tips to improve the proxy drafting process [Part 2 coming soon; feel free to ping me and share your thoughts – they will be posted anonymously or with attribution, whichever you desire]:

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Vanguard’s Voting Guidelines: 5 Things to Know

On the heels of policy updates from State Street, we now have these policy updates from Vanguard. Here are five things to know: 1.

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Corp Fin Updates Covid Guidance for Annual Meetings Again

As we continue to experience the saga of this pandemic, Corp Fin recently updated its Covid guidance for annual shareholder meetings to refresh the section about shareholder proponents presenting their shareholder proposals at meetings.

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How to Land a Meeting with an Investor Who Doesn’t Want to Meet

Following up on our series of shareholder engagement blogs, if your company is on the smaller size, you might have trouble attracting the attention of someone who already invests in your company – but from whom you want to solicit their vote at the next shareholders m

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State Street's Voting Guidelines: 4 Things to Know

Last month, I blogged about BlackRock's latest proxy voting guidelines. We now have policy updates from State Street.

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What Should You Say to Investors When There’s Nothing Pressing

Following up on our series of shareholder engagement blogs, some years you'll be lucky and things are going swimmingly for the company and it doesn't seem like investors will want to meet. Investors often say that they don't want to meet just for the sake of meeting.

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How to Handle Unexpected Questions (This is the “Biggie”)

Following up on the series of shareholder engagement blogs that Broc is running this month, if your engagement team has done their homework, the meeting should go well. According to plan.

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Practice Your Smile (for Online Shareholder Engagement)

Following up on our series of shareholder engagement blogs, here's one that's bound to sound a little zany. Practice your online smile. More great advice from our firm's communications pro: Karen Lisko. Part of being persuasive, of being genuine, is being inviting and friendly.

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8 Things to Know About This Proxy Season

A few days ago, we posted this new client alert, that we authored along with Danielle Benderly and Chris Wassman - "Preparing for the 2022 Public Company Reporting Season" - during which we delved into these eight topics: 1. Form 10-K Disclosures 2.

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Most Important Word in Persuasion?

Following up on our series of shareholder engagement blogs, maybe you've been doing great during your shareholder engagement efforts. Maybe not.

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How to Ensure Those on Your Engagement Team Will Stay the Course

You'll soon see our blog about how to give a "non-answer" answer in the appropriate circumstances; this one is more about ensuring everyone on your engagement team - when meeting with investor stewardship teams - is providing consistent answers and is staying the path with the proper demeanor for your engagement. Here's a few suggestions about how to perhaps achieve this: 1.

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HBO’s “Succession” Gives Us a Reg FD Moment (Or Two)

Over the holidays, I was catching up on Season 3 of the HBO show, "Succession." This season features more scenes than ever before implicating the topics that many of us handle on a regular basis.

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In-House Corner: Working During Vacations/Holidays - Part 2

This feature of our blog is where our in-house readers share tips, anecdotes and thoughts about things that come up in their daily practice.