Advice for Businesses in Dealing with the Expanding Coronavirus Events

SEC Provides Relief for Public Company Annual Shareholder Meetings: Considerations Around Implementing Virtual Meetings

March 18, 2020

PH COVID-19 Task Force

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With much of the country shut down due to COVID-19, many U.S. companies are facing difficult questions when scheduling their annual shareholder meetings, including whether to delay or move such meetings or hold them virtually. In response to the uncertainty COVID-19 has injected during the busiest time for annual meetings, the Securities and Exchange Commission Staff recently published guidance to assist public companies with their upcoming shareholder meetings, providing regulatory flexibility to companies seeking to change the date and location of the meetings, or proposing to use new technologies, such as virtual shareholder meetings that avoid the need for in-person shareholder attendance, while at the same time ensuring that shareholders and other market participants remain sufficiently informed.