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Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

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This presentation discusses the things that companies should be doing to address compensation issues resulting from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection Act.
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August 25, 2010 EXEQUITY Independent Board and Management Advisors High Performance Equity Compensation Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Action Steps for Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance Provisions (sections 951-957 and 971-972)
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Page 1: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

August 25, 2010EXEQUITY

Independent Board and Management Advisors High Performance Equity Compensation

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform

and Consumer Protection Act

Action Steps for Executive Compensation

and Corporate Governance Provisions

(sections 951-957 and 971-972)

Page 2: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

The following presentation walks through the highlights of the executive compensation provisions contained in the Dodd-Frank

Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This presentation is based on the final version of the bill dated July 16, 2010 and

posted on the Government Printing Office’s Web page: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h4173enr.txt.pdf

(under Title IX—Investor Protections and Improvements to the Regulation of Securities Sections 951–957 and 971–972).

President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Act into law on July 21, 2010

To protect the confidential and proprietary information included in this material, it may not be disclosed or provided to any third parties without the prior consent of Exequity LLP and

Performensation Consulting LLC. ©2010

Page 3: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

Today’s Presenters

Ed HauderSenior AdviserExequity LLPEmail: [email protected] Phone: (847) 996-3990Web: www.exqty.com

EXEQUITYIndependent Board andManagement Advisors

Dan WalterPresident and CEOPerformensationEmail: [email protected]: (415) 625-3406Web: www.performensation.com

High Performance Equity

Compensation

Page 4: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

About the Speakers: Ed Hauder

Senior Executive Compensation Advisor

Senior advisor and practical thought leader: Ed is known industry-wide as a leading advisor on executive compensation matters. He maintains long-term relationships with numerous companies, serves on the CompensationStandards.com Executive Compensation Task Force, maintains his acclaimed Equity Compensation Blog, edwardhauder.com, and is a practical thought leader on compensation matters.

Experience across a range of industries: Ed has consulted with hundreds of companies in multiple industries on all aspects of executive and director compensation. Ed focuses on helping companies design compensation programs that help them achieve their strategic goals and objectives, while at the same time keeping them out of the penalty box with shareholders and the media. Ed also helps companies understand and find practical solutions for technical matters impacting compensation, e.g., financial accounting, securities, tax, and corporate governance issues. His expertise includes RiskMetrics Group (a.k.a. ISS) compensation modeling and policies, which enabled him to create the Flexible Share Authorization to maximize equity plan flexibility.

Articles and quotes on compensation issues: Ed has recently written articles that have appeared in The Corporate Board, workspan Weekly, BNA’s Executive Compensation Library, and Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal. He has been quoted in such publications as BNA’s Pension & Benefits Daily, Business Finance, Forbes, HR Magazine, and The NASPP Advisor.

Background and education: Before joining Exequity, Ed was employed as a Principal at Buck Consultants where he managed the Technical Solutions and Innovation Team. Prior to that, Ed was a member of Hewitt Associates’ Executive Compensation Center of Technical Excellence. Ed received a B.A. in International Relations from Juniata College, a J.D., cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law, and an LL.M. (Tax), with honors, from IIT-Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Contact information: [email protected] or (847) 996-3990Ed’s Equity Compensation Plan Blog: www.edwardhauder.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/ExeCompAdvisor

Page 5: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

About the Speakers: Dan Walter

President and CEO of Performensation

Broad experience: Dan has more than 15 years of experience assisting companies with both executive and broad-based compensation programs. He provides end-to-end solutions for private and public companies in both the United States and abroad. His clients have ranged from entrepreneurial start-ups to established Fortune 100 companies providing him with a unique perspective on compensation issues.

Incentive compensation futurist: Dan is frequently recognized for being an industry leader in compensation design, philosophy, and execution. He provides solutions that start with your corporate culture and end with your corporate success. Performensation’s solutions also include GEMS, the only tool designed to automate the tracking of complex goals against equity plans.

Deep expertise: Dan’s expertise includes equity compensation, executive programs, performance-based pay, and talent management issues. His experience with these programs includes diagnosis, design, communication, administration, and reporting. Dan has experience with all forms of equity, including stock options, restricted shares and units, and stock purchase and performance-based programs. Dan’s past clients include: Yahoo, Google, IBM, Microsoft, JDSU, ION Geophysical, Redback Networks, BGI (now BlackRock), and others.

Industry educator: Dan is currently writing a book on performance-based equity and contributing to another. He is a frequently requested speaker at compensation, stock administration, human resources, and accounting events, covering a wide range of topics. Dan is the founder of Equity Compensation Experts, the largest networking group for professionals who touch equity compensation, a regular contributor to the Compensation Café blog (rated one the top 10 talent management blogs on the web), and a co-producer of the ShareComp 2010 virtual conference

Phone: ofc: +1-415-625-3406 | mobile: +1-917-734-4649Twitter: @performensation | Skype: performensation | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danwalterPerformensation’s Website: www.performensation.comEquity Compensation Experts groupsite: www.equitycompensationexperts.groupsite.comCompensation Cafe Blog: www.compensationcafe.com

Page 6: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: SAY ON PAY PROVISIONS

What you need to do:

Create say on pay stakeholder team

Determine your say on pay philosophy and approach:

Aggressive:

Actively move to more performance-based pay

Move to annual shareholder votes

Passive:

Wait for others in your peer group to announce their position

Push for vote triennially

Understand what your shareholders want

Page 7: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: SAY ON PAY PROVISIONS

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Evaluate content and presentation of executive compensation disclosures

Review alignment of pay to performance

Reach out to your shareholders to find out what they think and identify any “hot button” issues that could impact their vote on say on pay

Review past recommendations from ISS, Glass Lewis, and others regarding companies in your peer group

Review how your your compensation plan, design, and program compare to the policies of your institutional shareholders

Page 8: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: GOLDEN PARACHUTE VOTES

What you need to do:

Review change-in-control (CIC) provisions in all compensation programs and ensure that they represent your current philosophy

Determine go-forward philosophy in regard to golden parachutes

Page 9: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Determine current golden parachute liability assuming a CIC event in the next 12 months; use different deal price assumptions to get a feel for the sensitivity of your golden parachutes to the deal price

Determine Top 5 NEO golden parachute liability as a percentage of deal price and premium over current and 200-day average stock price

Perform same calculations for your peers

Review compensation arrangements that may be subject to a separate shareholder vote if a transaction were to occur; ensure the terms are consistent with intent, and disclosure is covered by a management say on pay vote

ACTION ITEM: GOLDEN PARACHUTE VOTES

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 10: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INDEPENDENCE

What you need to do:

Review independence standard for audit committee members

Review how the audit committee independence standards might apply to your current compensation committee members

Review independence of compensation committee members and adjust as needed

Move to switch out non-independent directors before next applicable proxy period

Committee charter may need to be updated, but wait for SEC to issue rules

Page 11: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INDEPENDENCE

(You’re on your own)

Page 12: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM:CONSULTANTS AND ADVISERS INDEPENDENCE

What you need to do:

Determine what independence standard the compensation committee will apply to its advisers

Create a list of qualified compensation consultants who do not provide any other services to the company

Review current compensation consultants and other committee advisers for independence as related to the new rules

Review with your compensation committee possible advisers that may suit their needs

Determine whether the compensation committee wants to change any of its advisers as a result of reviewing their independence

Review the independence factors to be issued by the SEC

Page 13: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Exequity and Performensation are both completely independent consulting firms

We can provide assistance with your compensation programs

We can provide assistance in evaluating the independence of your current consultants and advisers

ACTION ITEM:CONSULTANTS AND ADVISERS INDEPENDENCE

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 14: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION DISCLOSURES

What you need to do:

As part of say on pay review and philosophy, document relationship between pay and performance

Determine the tools, time, and budget required to calculate employee annual compensation in the same manner as required for the Summary Compensation Table (SCT)

Provide input to the SEC now [http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/regreformcomments.shtml]

Contact your Congressman and Senators

Page 15: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Evaluate whether a historical look at pay versus performance of your company and its peers would assist the development of disclosure and/or message to shareholders

Utilizing Exequity’s ROX methodology

Determine current ratio of CEO pay to employee pay

Determine if any other pay ratios should be considered for disclosure purposes, i.e., CEO to other NEOs, CEO as a % of total compensation expense, etc.

Review peer group ratios, using compensation survey data as a guideline

Evaluate if your ratio is “media worthy”—will news outlets report on your ratio as a positive or negative?

ACTION ITEM: EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION DISCLOSURES

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 16: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: CLAWBACK PROVISION: RECOVERY OF ERRONEOUSLY AWARDED COMPENSATION POLICY

What you need to do:

Evaluate your current philosophy on clawback provisions

Can your current position be communicated as supporting the new regulations?

If not, what changes must be made to comply?

Determine if those changes can be made (some may require significant legal work or plan redesign)

Identify potential legal issues (wage laws, etc.)

Page 17: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Review your clawbacks to determine any necessary changes

Set out a plan to get necessary changes implemented so your clawbacks comply with the new requirements

Create clawback “best practices” guidelines that can be applied to current and prospective programs

ACTION ITEM: CLAWBACK PROVISION: RECOVERY OF ERRONEOUSLY AWARDED COMPENSATION POLICY

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 18: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: DISCLOSURE REGARDING EMPLOYEE AND DIRECTOR HEDGING

What you need to do:

Review current hedging positions with all executives, directors, and employees

Evaluate the disclosure requirements for each individual’s current transactions

Determine the modifications, if any, that each individual must make

Page 19: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Define a clear anti-hedging policy as part of your insider trading policy

Create a communication program explaining the variants of hedging and how your anti-hedging policy works

ACTION ITEM: DISCLOSURE REGARDING EMPLOYEE AND DIRECTOR HEDGING

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 20: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: ENHANCED COMPENSATION STRUCTURE REPORTING FOR FINANCIAL COMPANIES

What you can do:

If you are not a financial company, disregard for now, but keep an eye on this so you know what some shareholders might ask you to adopt if the changes are viewed as beneficial by shareholders

If you are a covered financial company with more than $1 billion in assets:

Start evaluating your compensation programs now

Determine how you will communicate the structure of these arrangements to determine:

Possibility of providing excessive compensation fees or benefits

Risk profile and association with possible material loss to the company

Page 21: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Prepare initial approach to modifications such as:

Mandatory holding periods and stock ownership guidelines

A significant portion of compensation to be deferred

Introducing an absolute metric governing payouts of any performance-based compensation subject to relative performance measures, e.g., relative total shareholder returns

ACTION ITEM: ENHANCED COMPENSATION STRUCTURE REPORTING FOR FINANCIAL COMPANIES

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 22: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: VOTING BY BROKERS

What you can do:

Evaluate voting standards and determine impact

Determine whether more aggressive outreach to shareholders is warranted to gain support of retail shares

Page 23: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Evaluate employee equity compensation accounts to determine if the individuals can and do vote their shares

If you have a strong employee ownership culture, assist with the creation of a communication program that explains the importance of employee voting

Determine the potential need for a proxy solicitation campaign, based on the likelihood of un-voteable, broker-held shares

ACTION ITEM: VOTING BY BROKERS

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:

Page 24: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

ACTION ITEM: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

What you can do:

Keep your eyes open for final decisions regarding Proxy Access

Draft out the rationale for your company having the Chairman/CEO structure it has

Why was this structure selected?

What does it enable the company to do?

How does this structure impact your company’s corporate governance?

Does this structure increase or decrease your company’s risk profile?

Did you consider alternatives?

If so, why were they not selected?

How often does the company review its Chairman/CEO structure?

Page 25: Wall Street Reform: Action Items for Compensation (Dodd Frank Act)

www.exqty.com (847) 996-3990

www.performensation.com415-625-3406

Update you when final proxy access rules are available

Provide insight into rationale for peer group Chairman/CEO structure

ACTION ITEM: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

How an experienced compensation consultant can help:


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