May 29, 2014
SEC’s Reg Flex Agenda: Four Horsemen Rulemakings Comings & Goings
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
A few months ago, I blogged about some remarks from Corp Fin Director Keith Higgins that included a status update on the Four Horsemen rulemakings from Dodd-Frank. Last Friday, the SEC issued its semi-annual Reg Flex Agenda indicating that the pay ratio rules would be adopted by October – and that the three other rulemakings would be proposed by that same month. Does this really mean anything? No, not really – as Reg Flex Agendas tend to be “aspirational” as I’ve blogged about a few times recently.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe those actions will be accomplished by that date. In fact, SEC Chair White has continued to express a desire to get all the Dodd-Frank rulemakings behind her – so I would be surprised if we didn’t see final pay ratio rules sooner, as well as proposals on at least some of the other three before then too. But you never know, particularly as the five Commissioners seem to be more polarized than ever…
A potential wild card here is that the House Financial Services Committee recently passed 9 capital formation bills – some with strong bipartisan support and some that would require the SEC to adopt new rules within a short timeframe (eg. 180 days). A new spate of required rulemakings could hinder any plans to act on some or all of the Four Horsemen…