DEF 14A
The definitive proxy statement sent to shareholders before a meeting, covering the items to be voted on.
Updated 2026-07-26
A proxy statement explains what shareholders are being asked to decide: directors to elect, auditors to ratify, compensation to approve, transactions to authorise. It is filed in definitive form once it is final, after any preliminary version.
It is also where executive compensation is disclosed in detail, and where the ownership of directors, officers and large holders is tabulated in one place. For questions about who owns and who is paid what, it is more informative than the annual report.
The meeting date and the record date in a proxy statement are the dates that matter for voting. They are usually different from each other and from the filing date.
Related terms
4 entries- Beneficial ownership
- The count of securities a person can vote or dispose of, which is not the same as the number registered in their name.
- Form 10-K
- The annual report of a U.S. public company, containing audited financial statements and a description of the business.
- Insider
- A person or entity whose relationship with a company obliges them to report their transactions in its securities.
- Record date
- The date on which a shareholder must be on the register to receive a declared dividend or to vote.