This week the SEC announced charges against Hilton Worldwide Holdings for failing to disclose approximately $1.7 million worth of perquisites related to personal use of the company’s corporate jet and executive hotel stays. The commission says the hotelier “failed to appropriately apply the SEC’s compensation disclosure rules to its system for identifying, tracking and calculating perquisites.”
This enforcement action and a recently released compliance and disclosure interpretation (CD&I) outlining some pertinent perquisite issues that may come up during the Covid-19 pandemic are signals that the commission is focusing on perk identification and disclosure, sources say. Governance experts suggest that compensation committees take a closer look at perquisite disclosures, particularly surrounding jet use in light of these enforcement actions and travel impacts stemming from the pandemic.
…According to disclosures made in 2020 and analyzed by public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ, only 26 companies specifically disclosed aircraft travel in perquisite calculations.