As public companies were getting ready for the 2018 proxy season, on November 1, 2017, the staff (the "Staff") of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I) on shareholder proposals. This new guidance suggests greater deference to a board's assessment on whether to exclude certain shareholder proposals. A short 20 days after the guidance was released, on November 20, 2017, Apple Inc. filed a "no-action" letter request related to the exclusion of a shareholder proposal from the company's proxy for its 2018 annual shareholder meeting, citing SLB 14I to support its request.
Not So Fast! How Many Signatures Does it Take to Create a Binding Contract?
Attorneys and their clients often refer to a contract becoming enforceable once it has been "fully executed," but what does that phrase actually mean? Like most legal questions, the short answer is: "It depends." It depends on several factors, including the type of contract, the parties involved, the course of dealing between those parties, and other facts and circumstances.