Article by Susan P. Serota, Peter J. Hunt, Cindy V. Schlaefer and Henry Hernandez
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved changes to the NYSE and Nasdaq rules requiring shareholder approval of all stock option and other equity compensation arrangements, and material revisions to the terms of those arrangements, with limited exceptions. These rules, originally proposed in October, 2002 (and described in our earlier Client Alert dated November 13, 2002, also available on our website), are effective June 30, 2003, subject to limited transitional relief. Broad-based option plans, grants to rank and file employees and the use of treasury shares are no longer exempt from shareholder approval requirements.
