SEC Issues Final Rule on Universal Proxy Cards in Contested Director Elections

The SEC has issued a final rule, Universal Proxy. The final rule will require (1) “parties in a contested election to use universal proxy cards that include all director nominees presented for election at a shareholder meeting”; (2) “dissident shareholders and registrants to provide shareholders with a proxy card that includes the names of all registrant and dissident nominees”; and (3) “registrants and dissidents to provide each other with notice of the names of their nominees, establish a filing deadline and a minimum solicitation requirement for dissidents, and prescribe presentation and formatting requirements for universal proxy cards.”

For more information, see the press release and fact sheet as well as statements by SEC Commissioners Elad L. Roisman, Allison H. Lee, Hester M. Peirce, and Caroline A. Crenshaw on the SEC’s Web site.