In McDonald's Corporation, 2017 BL 84444 (March 16, 2017), McDonald's Corp. ("McDonald's") asked the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to permit the omission of a shareholder proposal submitted by Marco Consulting Group Trust I ("Shareholder") requesting that McDonald's adopt a plan to issue a new series of preferred stock, entitling franchise owners to elect a franchise director. The SEC issued a no-action letter denying the exclusion of the proposal under Rules 14a-8(i)(7), 14a-8(i)(2), and 14a-8(i)(6).
Read MoreIn Retail Wholesale & Dep’t Store Union Local 338 Ret. Fund v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 845 F.3d 1268 (9th Cir. 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ amended class action complaint (the “Complaint”) against Hewlett-Packard Company (“HP”) and Mark Hurd, former CEO and Chairman of HP (“Defendants”). The Ninth Circuit held Retail Wholesale & Department Store Union Local 338 Retirement Fund, individually and on behalf of those similarly situated (“Plaintiffs”), failed to sufficiently allege a material misrepresentation or omission under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”).
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