In 2012, publicly held corporations’ annual meetings were in the headlines. Protesters affiliated with labor unions and the “Occupy” movement demonstrated at various meetings. Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson lauded unions’ efforts to assert their agenda through shareholder activism. An increasing number of shareholder proposals this year involved corporations’ political spending, as highlighted by The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets.
Through its publicly available Proxy Monitor database, launched in 2011, and investigative findings, the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy (CLP) has been working to shed light on the current state of shareholder activism in the United States. On September 12, CLP director James Copland will release his 2012 proxy season review. To react to Copland’s report, our event will feature a diverse panel of experts who are leaders in the field of corporate governance. We are also pleased to welcome Harvey Pitt and Paul Atkins, a former chairman and commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to discuss the current state of corporate governance and shareholder activism. We hope you will join us for what promises to be an exciting event.
| 8:15 AM | CHECK-IN AND BREAKFAST |
| 8:45 AM | PRESENTATION James Copland, Director, Center for Legal Policy |
| 9:05 AM | PANEL DISCUSSION Douglas K. Chia, Assistant General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Johnson & Johnson James Copland, Director, Center for Legal Policy David F. Larcker, James Irvin Miller Professor of Accounting, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University; Professor, Stanford Law School Chris Young, Managing Director & Head of Contested Situations, Credit Suisse; Former Director, M&A & Proxy Fight Research, Institutional Shareholder Services Moderator: T.K. Kerstetter, President, Corporate Board Member; Producer & Co-Host, “This Week in the Boardroom” |
| 10:10 AM | DISCUSSION Paul Atkins, Founder & CEO, Patomak Global Partners; Former Commissioner, Securities & Exchange Commission Harvey Pitt, Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission; Chief Executive Officer, Kalomara Partners, LLC Moderator: David Asman, News Anchor, Fox Business Network & Fox News Channel |
| 11:00 AM | ADJOURN |
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communications@manhatan-institute.org