Top 10 Topics for Directors in 2014

Publisher: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Authors: Kerry Berchem, Rick Burdick, Tracy Crum, Garrett A. DeVries, Patrick Dooley, David Patrick Elder, N. Kathleen Friday, Jo-Ellyn Sakowitz Klein, Christine LaFollette, Jorge Lopez, Bruce Mendelsohn, J. Kenneth Menges, Frank Reddick,Rolf Zaiss

Executive compensation is a topic that just won’t go away, particularly with pay disparity and pay for performance regulations still looming.

Highlighted below are some of the matters directors should be considering as they craft executive compensation for 2014. U.S. public companies face a host of challenges as they enter 2014. Here is Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s list of Top 10 topics for directors in the boardroom in the coming year:

1. Oversee strategic planning amid continuing fiscal uncertainty and game-changing advances in information technology
2. Address cyber security
3. Set appropriate executive compensation as shareholders increasingly focus on pay for performance and activists target pay disparity
4. Address the growing demands of compliance oversight
5. Assess the impact of health care reform on the company’s benefits plan and cost structure
6. Determine whether the CEO and board chair positions should be separated
7. Ensure appropriate board compensation in light of increasing focus on director tenure and diversity
8. Cultivate shareholder relations and strengthen defenses as activist hedge funds target more companies
9. Address boardroom confidentiality
10. Consider whether to adopt a forum selection bylaw

For the full alert, please click here for more detailed descriptions on each topic.

Have any of these topics been discussed by you or your company?