Do you want to know about a CEO or company not listed in the Executive PayWatch database? Are you looking for additional information about the compensation of a chief executive or other top executives? This information is available from proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the filings are readily available on the Internet.

What are proxy statements? Publicly traded companies must provide proxy statements to shareholders to describe matters that will be voted upon at annual meetings, such as the election of directors, approval of executive compensation packages, amendments to corporate charters or company bylaws, or other key issues such as mergers. Proxy statements also inform investors about shareholder proposals that will be voted upon at the annual meeting. The SEC requires companies to disclose details of executive compensation of the top five paid officials, as well as describe nominees for the board of directors.

Retrieving the Proxy Statement

1. Point your Web browser to:
    http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html.
2. Enter the company name or ticker symbol and select "Find Companies."
3. The SEC site will display the company's filings or display a list of companies matching the name you entered. Choose the company name that best matches what you are looking for.
4. When you get to the page displaying all of a company's SEC filings, find the most recent Form DEF 14a. Alternatively, you can limit your search by entering "DEF 14A" in the Form Type box and selecting "Search."
5. Click on the "Documents" button for the DEF 14A filing you are interested in. On the next page, you will then need to click on the top hyperlink to view the proxy statement.
6. The proxy statement usually contains a table called the Summary Compensation Table that shows three-years of compensation data for a company's named executive officers. This is part of the Executive Compensation section (typically, this is near the middle or end of the document). You can use the FIND command on your browser or word processing program to locate this section.