Block

March 06, 2007 | Law.com

The head of the House Financial Services Committee introduced legislation last week to give shareholders at public companies a say in how their top executives are compensated. The proposal by Rep. Barney Frank and 21 other Democrats provides for a vote on compensation awarded in the prior year to a company's five most highly paid executives. However, because the ballot would be nonbinding, managers are unlikely to lose compensation in the event investors opposed their pay packages.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

September 23, 2008 | Legaltech News

Software maker McAfee has agreed to buy Secure Computing in a deal valued at $465 million. McAfee hopes the acquisition will bolster its position in the risk management business and offer a complete, single-source network security portfolio to a range of companies, from small to global.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

April 18, 2005 | Law.com

In a rare move, the Securities and Exchange Commission has given listed companies a six-month reprieve from a controversial new rule that requires companies to deduct the cost of employee stock options from profits. The much-anticipated delay is intended to ease the regulatory burden on companies that are struggling to comply with the sweeping new auditing controls mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

March 09, 2005 | Law.com

By Donna Block

2 minute read

September 28, 2006 | Corporate Counsel

In a conference call with investors and analysts, E. James Ferland, CEO of New Jersey's Public Service Enterprise Group, held out the prospect of selling PSEG's regulated utility sometime down the road to focus on businesses with less bureaucratic tangles. Last week, the company scuttled its $17 billion deal with Exelon in reaction to state regulatory burdens, but Farland said that he believes PSEG will get "reasonable treatment" from state officials.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

November 05, 2004 | Law.com

The SEC said Thursday that Wachovia Corp. agreed to pay a $37 million penalty to settle a case involving proxy disclosure and reporting violations associated with its 2001 merger with First Union Corp. The SEC charged that prior to the merger the banks failed to disclose Wachovia's purchase of $500 million of First Union shares that artificially kept the value of First Union's offer for Wachovia competitive with a rival offer from SunTrust Banks Inc.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

July 20, 2007 | Law.com

Google executives will be called to testify before at least two congressional committees this fall to answer questions about the company's $3.1 billion buyout of DoubleClick and its impact on online advertising and consumer privacy. The Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel plans to hold a hearing focusing on the consolidation sweeping the online-advertising market. A House Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection is also planning a hearing, which will reportedly focus on privacy concerns.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

November 14, 2005 | Law.com

Rep. Barney Frank, the House Financial Services Committee's ranking Democrat, introduced legislation Thursday that would require public companies to disclose top executives' compensation to shareholders. The Massachusetts lawmaker is pushing the measure in response to recent scandals in which top executives lavished outrageous perks upon themselves and ensured they would get multimillion-dollar golden parachutes if forced to leave their companies.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

July 19, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

Three leading U.S. business groups urged accounting watchdogs last Wednesday to reconsider their plan requiring companies to book the cost of employee stock options.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

September 28, 2006 | Law.com

In a conference call with investors and analysts, E. James Ferland, CEO of New Jersey's Public Service Enterprise Group, held out the prospect of selling PSEG's regulated utility sometime down the road to focus on businesses with less bureaucratic tangles. Last week, the company scuttled its $17 billion deal with Exelon in reaction to state regulatory burdens, but Farland said that he believes PSEG will get "reasonable treatment" from state officials.

By Donna Block

3 minute read