In SEC v. Hovannisian, No. 1:17-at-00617, 2017 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2017), defendants Damon Hovannisian, Vernon Hovannisian, Vincent Hovannisian, and Eddie Arakelian (collectively “Defendants”) consented to the entry of a permanent injunction against them, prohibiting future violations of the Securities Exchange Act Section 10(b) (“§ 10b”) and disgorgement of profits including prejudgment interest totaling $470,000 to settle securities fraud claims brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Read MoreIn Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2017 BL 87193 (March 16, 2017), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (“Wal-Mart”) asked the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to permit the omission of a proposal submitted by shareholder Jing Zhao (“Shareholder”) requesting Wal-Mart revise its corporate governance guidelines to allow the board of directors to discontinue and remove disqualified members of the board of directors in accordance with applicable laws. The SEC declined to issue the requested no action letter under Rule 14a-8(i)(10).
Read MoreThis post is part of an ongoing series that examines the way stock exchange independence rules relate to director compensation. We are for the most part including companies from 2017’s Fortune 500 and using information found in their 2016 proxy statements.
NASDAQ and the NYSE have similar rules with respect to director independence. NYSE Rule 303A.01 requires that each listed company’s board of directors be comprised of a majority of independent directors. A director does not qualify as “independent” if he or she has a “material relationship with the company.” NYSE Rule 303A.02(a).
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