By Cydney Posner

In a speech today to the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro addressed the next phase in financial regulatory reform. Noting that the SEC faces a demanding schedule of studies and rulemakings over the next year, Schapiro alerted the audience that the SEC has set up mailboxes, organized by topic, to invite public comment even before the various rules are proposed and before the official comment periods have begun.  A copy of the SEC's release can be found online.  The staff will also meet with interested parties.

One of the categories of expected rulemaking that Schapiro discussed was expanding corporate disclosures, which will require a number of new rulemakings: advisory say-on-pay and say-on-parachute votes, new standards of independence for compensation committees and standards regarding conflicts of interest for compensation consultants, internal pay equity disclosure, graphic representation of executive pay for performance, hedging policy for employees and directors, clawback policies, discretionary voting by brokers on compensation and other matters.

While the SEC is merely authorized by the DFA to adopt proxy access, Schapiro stated that she was "committed to bringing a final rule to the Commission for consideration so that rules will generally be in effect in time for the 2011 proxy season." She also noted that she was committed to following up on the "concept release" on proxy plumbing and intends to make the time to address these critical issues.

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