Recently, the SEC published its latest Reg Flex Agenda – both the “Active” agenda and the “Long-Term Actions” agenda (combined, they are also known as the “Unified Agenda”). When it comes to rulemaking that might be proposed over the next year, it was interesting to see that clawbacks made the list! But pay-for-performance did not. The near-term agenda includes:
- Auditor independence (April ’20)
- Clawbacks (September ’20; this would be a second proposal – the first one was back in ’15)
- Earnings releases/quarterly reports (September ’20; the SEC “requested comments” in January – the next step would be an actual rule proposal)
- Accredited investor definition (September ’20…though Bloomberg reported that a proposal could be coming soon).
Two years ago, the Reg Flex Agenda was changed so that it came in two flavors: “Existing Proposed & Final Rule Stages” (together known as “Active”) – and “Long-Term Actions.” That has now been slightly changed so that there are three categories – “Pre-Rule Stage” (only one item in this category); “Proposed Rule Stage”; and “Final Rule Stage” – in the “Active” bucket.
Note that there have been a number of proposals issued by the SEC in recent months and those are listed under the “Proposed Rule Stage” rather than the “Final Rule Stage” like other proposed rulemakings – perhaps because the comment periods for those more recent proposals are still open…
-Broc Romanek, TheCorporateCounsel.net December 4, 2019
