General Rules and Regulations
promulgated
under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Rule 14a-21 -- Shareholder Approval of Executive Compensation, Frequency of Votes for Approval of Executive Compensation and Shareholder Approval of Golden Parachute Compensation.
If a solicitation is made by a registrant and the solicitation relates to an annual or other meeting of shareholders at which
directors will be elected and for which the rules of the Commission require executive compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K
, the registrant shall, for the first annual or other meeting of shareholders on or after January 21, 2011, or for the
first annual or other meeting of shareholders on or after January 21, 2013 if the registrant is a smaller reporting company, and thereafter no
later than the annual or other meeting of shareholders held in the third calendar year after the immediately preceding vote under this subsection,
include a separate resolution subject to shareholder advisory vote to approve the compensation of its named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant to
Item 402 of Regulation S-K.
Instruction to paragraph (a):
The registrant's resolution shall indicate that the shareholder advisory vote under this subsection is to approve the compensation of the registrant's named
executive officers as disclosed pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.402 of this chapter). The following is a non-exclusive example of a resolution
that would satisfy the requirements of this subsection: "RESOLVED, that the compensation paid to the company's named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant
to Item 402 of Regulation S-K, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and narrative discussion is hereby APPROVED."
If a solicitation is made by a registrant and the solicitation relates to an annual or other meeting of shareholders at which directors
will be elected and for which the rules of the Commission require executive compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K, the registrant shall, for the
first annual or other meeting of shareholders on or after January 21, 2011, or for the first annual or other meeting of shareholders on or after January 21, 2013 if the registrant
is a smaller reporting company, and thereafter no later than the annual or other meeting of shareholders held in the sixth calendar year after the immediately preceding vote under
this subsection, include a separate resolution subject to shareholder advisory vote as to whether the shareholder vote required by paragraph (a) of this section should occur every
1, 2 or 3 years. Registrants required to provide a separate shareholder vote pursuant to § 240.14a-20 of this chapter shall include the separate resolution required by this section
for the first annual or other meeting of shareholders after the registrant has repaid all obligations arising from financial assistance provided under the TARP, as defined
in section 3(8) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5202(8)), and thereafter no later than the annual or other meeting of shareholders held
in the sixth calendar year after the immediately preceding vote under this subsection.
If a solicitation is made by a registrant for a meeting of shareholders at which shareholders are asked to approve an acquisition, merger,
consolidation or proposed sale or other disposition of all or substantially all the assets of the registrant, the registrant shall include a separate resolution subject to
shareholder advisory vote to approve any agreements or understandings and compensation disclosed pursuant to Item 402(t) of Regulation S-K, unless
such agreements or understandings have been subject to a shareholder advisory vote under paragraph (a) of this section. Consistent with section 14A(b) of the Exchange Act, any
agreements or understandings between an acquiring company and the named executive officers of the registrant, where the registrant is not the acquiring company, are not
required to be subject to the separate shareholder advisory vote under this paragraph.
Instructions to Rule 240.14a-21:
Disclosure relating to the compensation of directors required by Item 402(k) and Item 402(r) of
Regulation S-K is not subject to the shareholder vote required by paragraph (a) of this section. If a registrant includes disclosure pursuant to Item 402(s) of Regulation S-K
about the registrant's compensation policies and practices as they relate to risk management and risk-taking incentives, these policies and practices would not be subject
to the shareholder vote required by paragraph (a) of this section. To the extent that risk considerations are a material aspect of the registrant's compensation policies or decisions
for named executive officers, the registrant is required to discuss them as part of its Compensation Discussion and Analysis
under § 229.402(b) of this chapter, and therefore such disclosure would be considered by shareholders when voting on executive compensation.
If a registrant includes disclosure of golden parachute compensation arrangements pursuant to Item 402(t) in an annual meeting proxy
statement, such disclosure would be subject to the shareholder advisory vote required by paragraph (a) of this section.
Registrants that are smaller reporting companies entitled to provide scaled disclosure in accordance with Item 402(l) of Regulation S-K are not required to include a Compensation
Discussion and Analysis in their proxy statements in order to comply with this section. For smaller reporting companies, the vote required by paragraph (a) of this section must be
to approve the compensation of the named executive officers as disclosed pursuant to Item 402(m) through (q) of Regulation S-K.
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