Shareholders

Even after Stanley Black & Decker shareholders rejected the tool and security company's executive pay plan last spring, the company paid Nolan D. Archibald, its executive chairman and the former CEO of Black & Decker, a total of $64.4 million in 2011. Archibald became chairman in March 2010 when the former Towson-based Black & Decker Corp. was bought by the Stanley Works in a $4.5 billion deal. At the time, Archibald's sale-related compensation, including bonuses tied to cost-cutting targets, drew criticism from corporate governance experts, who had estimated its worth at $89 million over three years.

Elkridge will get a new elementary school for the 2013-2014 academic year now that the sellers of a 10.1-acre site on Ducketts Lane have settled a dispute in court. The Howard County school system was supposed to close the deal with Ducketts Ridge LLC in October, but a shareholder refused to release a lien to the sellers. The $2.64 million deal was put on hold, leaving the school system without property needed to alleviate overcrowding in the northeast and causing the system to file a lawsuit in December.

This is what you call fulfilling fidicuiary duty to shareholders. Last fall Olympus CEO Michael Woodford exposed a huge accounting scandal at the company, so it fired him. Today Reuters reports that the company "is suing its president and 18 other executives, past and present, for up to $47 million in compensation, as it struggles to recover from one of the nation's worst accounting scandals. " Why not? These are the guys who presided over the fraud and presumably benefited from it.

Shareholders for Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. and Chicago-based Exelon Corp. today approved the merger of the two energy companies. The confirmation of the $7.9 billion deal by shareholders was widely expected by analysts, but had its critics. Federal and state regulatory reviews are still required for the deal, which company officials say is on track to close in the first quarter of next year. More than three-quarters of Constellation's shareholders submitted votes on the deal; the special shareholders' meeting took place in New York City.

Constellation Energy Group and Exelon Corp. shareholders will have their say on the companies' proposed merger at separate meetings on Nov. 17, according to regulatory documents filed Wednesday. Along with state and federal regulatory approval, investors of both companies need to support the $7.9 billion buyout of Baltimore's Constellation. The vote comes after the Maryland Public Service Commission completes evidentiary hearings on the merger. The review is expected to begin Oct. 31 and conclude by Nov. 10. The PSC will make a decision by Jan. 5. Constellation's special shareholder meeting will take place in New York, while Exelon will hold its vote in Chicago.

Despite continuing challenges to Constellation Energy Group's plans to sell itself to Exelon Corp., analysts say the $7.9 billion deal is likely to overcome major regulatory obstacles, including those in Maryland, where critics are seeking concessions to make the merger more palatable. On Wednesday, even as the companies and merger opponents continued to spar over details of the deal, energy analysts said the merger — scheduled for a shareholder vote next month — is expected to go through.

Legg Mason Inc. shareholders approved a $5.9 million pay package for Chairman and CEO Mark R. Fetting in an advisory vote announced Tuesday at the Baltimore-based company's annual meeting. The nonbinding "say on pay" measure won the support of 87 percent of voting stockholders. Shareholder guidance group Glass, Lewis & Co. had recommended that investors vote against the company's executive compensation package. The Glass, Lewis report criticized the firm's executive pay practices, saying the asset manager had paid top officers slightly more but performed slightly worse than its peers.

An influential shareholder guidance group is advising Legg Mason investors to vote against the Baltimore company's $5.9 million compensation package for Chairman and CEO Mark R. Fetting. Glass, Lewis & Co., which provides guidance on proxy proposals, gave Legg a "D" grade in pay for performance, saying the Baltimore asset manager's compensation package is out of line with its results. "In light of the company's track record of overpaying its executives and failing to promote a long-term focus among [its top paid executives]

Shareholders of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers approved the company's executive pay package in a nonbinding "say on pay" vote Friday. During the company's annual meeting, shareholders also re-elected President and CEO R. Neal Black and chairman Robert N. Wildrick to the board of directors. Black's base salary in fiscal year 2010 was $762,500, but total compensation was nearly $4 million, including incentives and stock awards. Wildrick's total compensation was $1.2 million. Shareholders also approved a measure to vote on executive pay every year.