📋 Tender Overview
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled charges against Stanley Black Decker Inc. a publicly traded tools company for failing to disclose perquisites it provided to certain executives. In addition Jeffery D. Ansell a former Stanley Black Decker executive agreed to settle charges that he caused Stanley Black Decker to violate proxy solicitation and books and records provisions of the federal securities laws.According to the SECs order against Stanley Black Decker the company failed to disclose at least 1.3 million worth of perquisites and personal benefits paid to or on behalf of four of its executive officers and one of its directors from 2017 through 2020. The perquisites predominantly consisted of expenses associated with the executives use of corporate aircraft.The order finds that Stanley Black Decker failed to appropriately apply the SECs compensation disclosure rules to its system for identifying tracking and calculating perquisites. The order does not impose a civil penalty against Stanley Black Decker which self-reported the perquisite disclosure failures and other conduct potentially implicating the federal securities laws cooperated with the SECs investigation and implemented remedial measures.According to the SECs separate order against Ansell while he was a senior executive at Stanley Black Decker Ansell received undisclosed compensation that consisted in part of 280000 in personal expenses he charged to the company. After consideration of Stanley Black Deckers self-reporting cooperation and remediation the SEC declined to bring charges against the company related to Ansells conduct.Todays action not only reaffirms the Commissions commitment to enforcing executive compensation disclosure rules but also to incentivizing self-reporting and cooperation when entities and individuals discover violations of the federal securities laws said Gurbir S. Grewal Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement. In the end proactive compliance enhances public trust in our markets and benefits all participants especially the investing public.Without admitting or denying the SECs findings Stanley Black Decker consented to an order requiring it to cease and desist from violations of reporting and proxy solicitation provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Without admitting or denying the SECs findings Ansell consented to an order requiring him to cease and desist from violations of proxy solicitation and books and records provisions of the Exchange Act and to pay a 75000 civil penalty.The SECs investigation was conducted by Oreste P. McClung and Brian R. Higgins and supervised by Brendan P. McGlynn Scott A. Thompson and Nicholas Grippo all of the Philadelphia Regional Office.
