Express failed to disclose nearly $1 million in perks to the clothing retailer’s former CEO, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday, saying it had settled charges against the company, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
The agency did not identify the former CEO by name but said the proxy statements were for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, a period when Tim Baxter was CEO. The Macy’s veteran joined Express in June 2019 and left less than four years later.
“Express failed to disclose $979,269 worth of perks and personal benefits to the CEO, including certain costs associated with the CEO’s authorized use of chartered aircraft for personal purposes,” the SEC said.
As a result, the company that applied has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, the agency underestimated its CEO’s compensation by 94% over three fiscal years.
Public companies have an obligation to comply with disclosure requirements so that “investors can make informed investment decisions,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Yet the commission did not impose a civil penalty due to the company’s self-reporting, cooperation and remediation efforts, Wadhwa noted.
Express appointed former Tyson Foods executive Stewart Glendinning to replace Baxter in September 2023, calling his resignation “not related to the company’s accounting or financial reporting, and the company confirms the previously announced guidance,” it said company at the time.
A group led by brand acquisition and management firm WHP Global now runs Express and Bonobos after purchasing its assets, including 450 stores, in late June.
WHP Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
