The Informed Board Podcast | Pass-Through Voting: Empowering Shareholders or Increasing the Influence of Proxy Advisors?
ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
What are ISS and Glass Lewis and Why Should My Bank Care?
Following a series of accounting and audit scandals in recent years and what has been described as a “crisis of trust”, the UK Government, regulatory bodies, and institutional investor groups have set out to reform the UK’s...more
Increased focus from investors, regulators, and employees on racial, ethnic and gender diversity has heightened scrutiny of public companies' commitments to diversity in their workforce and in particular on their boards. ...more
On August 1, 2022, the Delaware General Corporation Law Section 102(b)(7) was amended to extend exculpation rights to executive officers. The new amendment permits a corporation to adopt exculpatory language in its...more
In recent years "overboarding" has become an important issue for many UK companies and investors alike. Several large asset managers as well as proxy advisors, including Vanguard, BlackRock, and LGIM, have tightened their...more
Glass, Lewis & Co (Glass Lewis) and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) have both released updates to their Canadian proxy voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. The Glass Lewis updates apply to shareholder...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. Their voting...more
The SEC adopted final clawback rules last month, here, a mere seven years after they were originally proposed! After publication of the final rules in the federal register (soon), stock exchanges must propose listing...more
In this time of market volatility, White & Case LLP partners Colin Diamond (Chair of US Public Company Advisory) and Henrik Patel (Global Head of Employment, Compensation and Benefits) address the securities law, tax and...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. Their voting...more
Yesterday the SEC approved new proxy rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards by management and shareholders soliciting proxy votes for their candidates in non-exempt director election contests, as well as mandating...more
Alston & Bird will host this live seminar from our Atlanta office in addition to a live webcast. Learn about key developments and issues facing companies and investors and what you need to do to prepare for the 2022 proxy...more
Our preliminary list of important planning considerations for the 2022 proxy season is set forth below. - Directors’ and Officers’ Questionnaires; Committee Charters - We have identified only a few possible changes...more
John Jenkins at DealLawyers.com took note of this recent blog by Professor Ann Lipton concerning the stockholder vote at The Tribune Publishing Company. The gist of both these blogs was the decision by a 24% stockholder in...more
Proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis have issued their annual updated proxy voting guidelines for the upcoming 2021 proxy season. Glass Lewis’s new guidelines apply to shareholder meetings on or after January 1, 2021,...more
In the wake of COVID-19, global stock prices have plummeted. Yet, the current depressed state of the markets may distort the long-term outlook of many businesses. Hostile bidders and unwelcome activists may capitalize on this...more
Three significant trends mark the last decade in corporate governance, and they have only accelerated over time: (i) the dismantling of structural provisions that some shareholders believe insulate directors from...more
Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2017 annual meeting and reporting season. Once again, we have prepared a checklist of essential areas on which we believe companies should focus as they plan for the...more
On October 31, 2016, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a proxy advisory firm, announced its rebranded corporate governance rating system. Formerly known as QuickScore, the rating system is now called QualityScore to...more
Corporate governance has changed dramatically since passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The level of shareholder engagement and institutional...more
The Executive Compensation and Benefits Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is pleased to provide you with this second edition of its Compensation Committee Handbook. This edition reflects developments in...more
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recently issued its U.S. voting policy guidelines for the 2016 proxy season. The guidelines include a few key changes, a summary of which is outlined below. Conflicting Shareholder...more
In an October 1st decision (In re Zale Corporation), the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed claims that Zale Corporation’s directors breached their fiduciary duties in connection with Zale’s agreement to merge with Signet. ...more
Corporate directors are permitted to, and regularly do, set their own compensation. This has not been controversial because boards have typically taken seriously their responsibility to set compensation that is reasonable and...more
Introduction - Oversight of enterprise risk management, or ERM, continues to challenge boards and occupy a prominent place on the governance agenda. Effective ERM seeks to balance risk and opportunity while enhancing...more
Increasingly, companies are being confronted with shareholders seeking to exercise power and influence over business activities. The term “activism” has become a buzzword to refer to shareholders seeking to make operational,...more