Robert B. Murphy Quoted in Chicago Tribune Article on SEC Rule Regarding Corporate Pay Ratio

Robert B. Murphy, Washington, D.C.-based attorney in Dykema’s Business Services Department and its Securities-Public Company practice group, was quoted in an article—“Corporate pay ratio proves divisive”—that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 23, 2014.

The article addresses the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule that calls for the disclosure of a new ratio—that compares a company’s median annual compensation for employees with that of its chief executive. The proposed rule has elicited an extraordinary level of public comment (1,000 individually-sent letters; another 127,000 form letters) from a broad array of audiences, including industry groups, individual companies, law firms and executive compensation consultants.

In the article, Murphy—who before joining Dykema was an Attorney-Adviser for the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance—observes that the proposed corporate pay ratio rules will be expensive and time-consuming, especially for large companies.

“It's a tremendous undertaking for any large international company with no concomitant benefit to its shareholders," says Murphy. He notes, however, that despite the outcry from many sectors of the corporate world, the final rules will be adopted this year “substantially as proposed.” Murphy adds, “I think there is very little chance that it won’t get adopted this year.”

To read this article in its entirety, click here.