SEC Adopts CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a final rule requiring public companies to disclose the ratio of the compensation of their CEOs to the median compensation of their employees. 

The new rule, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, provides companies with flexibility in calculating this pay ratio, and helps inform shareholders when voting on “say on pay.”

“The Commission adopted a carefully calibrated pay ratio disclosure rule that carries out a statutory mandate,” said SEC chair Mary Jo White in a statement. “The rule provides companies with substantial flexibility in determining the pay ratio, while remaining true to the statutory requirements.”

The new rule will provide shareholders with information they can use to evaluate a CEO’s compensation, and will require disclosure of the pay ratio in registration statements, proxy and information statements, and annual reports that call for executive compensation disclosure.  Companies will be required to provide disclosure of their pay ratios for their first fiscal year beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2017.

The rule addresses concerns about the costs of compliance by providing companies with flexibility in meeting the rule’s requirements.  For example, a company will be permitted to select its methodology for identifying its median employee and that employee’s compensation, including through statistical sampling of its employee population or other reasonable methods.

The rule also allows companies to make the median employee determination only once every three years and to choose a determination date within the last three months of a company’s fiscal year.  In addition, the rule allows companies to exclude non-U.S. employees from countries in which data privacy laws or regulations make companies unable to comply with the rule and provides a de minimis exemption for non-U.S. employees.

The SEC noted that the rule does not apply to smaller reporting companies, emerging growth companies, foreign private issuers, Multijurisdictional Disclosure System filers, or registered investment companies.  The rule does provide transition periods for new companies, companies engaging in business combinations or acquisitions, and companies that cease to be smaller reporting companies or emerging growth companies.

The rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

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