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Un article du The National Law Review revient sur la récente initiative de la SEC américaine visant à imposer aux grandes entreprises la publication d’un ratio de rémunération : « SEC Issues Pay Ratio Disclosure Guidance » (21 novembre 2016). Vous trouverez ainsi une belle synthèse des dernières interprétations de la SEC dans le domaine de la conformité et de la transparence.

Pour en savoir plus sur Regulation S-K – Last Update: October 18, 2016, cliquez ici.

Under the Rule, most companies required to provide compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K in filings with the SEC must disclose in their annual reports, proxy or information statements, and registration statements in which executive compensation disclosure under Item 402 of Regulation S-K is required, (1) the median annual total compensation of all employees, except their principal executive officer (PEO), (2) the PEO’s annual total compensation, and (3) the ratio of these two compensation amounts. Disclosure under the Rule must be made with respect to compensation for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2017. Thus, an issuer with a December 31 fiscal year must first make pay ratio disclosure under the Rule as to the compensation deemed paid by it for the year ending December 31, 2017, and most issuers subject to the Rule are likely to make their first pay ratio disclosure in their proxy statements used in the 2018 proxy season.

Issuers subject to the Rule should review the Staff’s guidance in connection with determining the issuers’ employee population and identifying their employee earning the median annual total compensation of all of their employees other than their PEO (Median Employee) to ensure their determination of their Median Employee is in compliance with both the Rule and the Staff’s guidance. Those issuers intending to take advantage of the flexibility that the Rule affords regarding the compensation measure used to determine an issuer’s Median Employee should pay particular attention to the Staff’s guidance regarding the acceptability and mechanics of such a measure.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian

Bonjour à toutes et à tous, je vous informe qu’Andrew Ceresney (directeur de la division Enforcement à la SEC) s’est exprimé lors de la Sixteenth Annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Conference à Washington le 14 septembre 2016 (« The SEC’s Whistleblower Program: The Successful Early Years »). À cette occasion, M. Ceresney est revenu sur la dénonciation, son histoire et son succès actuel… ainsi que l’influence qu’a exercé le programme de dénonciation américain pour le Canada (Ontario et Québec) et l’Australie.

Whistleblowers provide an invaluable public service, often at great personal and professional sacrifice and peril. I cannot overstate the appreciation we have for the willingness of whistleblowers to come forward with evidence of potential securities law violations. I often speak of the transformative impact that the program has had on the Agency, both in terms of the detection of illegal conduct and in moving our investigations forward quicker and through the use of fewer resources.

Dans son allocution, M. Ceserney fournit des chiffres :

1. The success of the program can be seen, in part, in the over $107 million we have paid to 33 whistleblowers for their valuable assistance, in cases with more than $500 million ordered in sanctions
2. Since the inception of the program, the Office has received more than 14,000 tips from whistleblowers in every state in the United States and from over 95 foreign countries. What’s more, tips from whistleblowers increased from 3,001 in fiscal year 2012 — the first full fiscal year that the Commission’s Whistleblower Office was in operation — to nearly 4,000 last year, an approximately 30% increase. And we are on target to exceed that level this year. During fiscal year 2015, the Office returned over 2,800 phone calls from members of the public. By the end of fiscal year 2015, the Commission and Claims Review Staff had issued Final Orders and Preliminary Determinations with respect to over 390 claims for whistleblower awards.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian

Les règles américaines en matière de rémunération se resserrent dans le domaine de la finance selon un article du Wall Street Journal : « New Rules Curbing Wall Street Pay Proposed ».

Sous les règles proposées, les grandes banques nationales auraient jusqu’à sept ans pour réclamer les bonus d’un cadre s’il s’avérait que son comportement avait été préjudiciable à son institution. De même, au lieu de restituer le bonus en un an, les paiements pourraient être étalés sur 4 ans.

Tens of thousands of Wall Street bankers face tighter restrictions on how they are paid under new rules proposed by U.S. regulators in response to the financial crisis of nearly a decade ago. Under the proposed rules, the nation’s largest banks would have up to seven years to « claw back » an executive’s bonuses if it turns out his or her actions hurt the institution. Also, instead of handing over all of a person’s bonus in one year, the payments would be spread out over four, according to the proposed rules.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian