The Stanford Online Proxy Initiative aims to greatly simplify the proxy reporting process by providing an online system through which corporations can more easily gather and report proxy information, and shareholders as well as the public at large can more easily access the information via the web. The system will be based on a real-time reporting, structured database that will be continuously updated by the corporate officers in control of the relevant information. This will create a dynamic depository of disclosure items residing in regulation S-K which can be tracked by corporate officers and used in different contexts of corporate reporting. The system will also offer a dynamically adjusting online questionnaire for directors which will allow directors to report their proxy relevant information for all corporations they are affiliated with. An essential, distinguishing feature of the system is its reliance on a formal language for annotating proxy relevant information, which will make it easier to retrieve relevant information. Ultimately, the database will fulfill the need for efficient reporting of proxy information which will make corporations more efficient as well as transparent, which will in turn strengthen investor confidence as well as the public’s confidence in the marketplace.

For more information, please read “Reinventing the Securities Disclosure Regime: Online Questionnaires as Substitutes for Form-Based Filings” by Joseph A. Grundfest and Alan L. Beller.

Project leader: Roland Vogl

The descriptions of current and past projects of CodeX non-residential fellows are provided to illustrate the kind of work our non-residential fellows are carrying out. These projects are listed here for informational purposes only and are not endorsed by CodeX, Stanford Law School, or Stanford University.