Glass Lewis has released its 2026 US Benchmark Policy Guidelines, which will apply to shareholder meetings held on or after January 1, 2026. Consistent with recent years, the updates are incremental rather than structural,...more
12/12/2025
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Benchmarks ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholder Rights
Internationally, businesses face growing regulatory and reputational pressure to modernise supplier contracts by embedding responsible procurement and ongoing supply chain due diligence practices. ...more
12/4/2025
/ Contract Terms ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Forced Labor ,
International Labor Laws ,
Jurisdiction ,
OECD ,
Popular ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
On November 18, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) held an additional virtual workshop to provide informal guidance on climate reporting under Senate Bill 253 (greenhouse gas emissions reporting) and Senate Bill...more
11/25/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Stays ,
Sustainability
On November 17, 2025, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a significant procedural shift in its administration of the no-action request process for...more
11/21/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
No-Action Letters ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
ISS Governance announced commencement of the public comment period on its proposed benchmark policy changes for 2026. This solicitation of comments follows ISS’ September release of results from its 2025 Global Benchmark...more
The 2025 proxy season marked a turning point in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) administration of shareholder proposals. ...more
10/24/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Letters ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals
In the absence of formal regulations, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has published numerous forms of informal guidance over recent months, which provide some helpful clarifications for companies, while also leaving...more
On October 15, Glass Lewis announced that, starting in 2027, it will shift away from a standard market-wide set of proxy voting guidelines and move toward more customized voting policies, allowing investors greater choice in...more
In remarks delivered on October 9 at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance’s 25th Anniversary Gala, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins suggested the SEC may be open to eliminating...more
The 2025 proxy season marked a turning point in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) administration of shareholder proposals. Over the course of the season, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (staff)...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a virtual public workshop on August 21 to refine implementation of the state’s corporate climate-disclosure laws – Senate Bills 253 and 261 (amended by SB 219). In advance of...more
On July 30, 2025, US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo to all federal agencies titled “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination.” This document clarifies how federal...more
The 2025 proxy season (July 1, 2024 – June 20, 2025, meetings) concluded with a significant drop in the volume of shareholder proposals from the 2024 proxy season’s record high, as environmental and social (E&S) proposals...more
On June 4, 2025, following observation of the significant increase in the foreign private issuer (FPI) population between 2003 and 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a concept release soliciting...more
Public companies find themselves rethinking disclosures relating to the diversity of their board and their director recruitment practices as they head into proxy season, given recent developments – including the US Court of...more
On February 11 and 12, 2025, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided a pre-Valentine’s Day treat for public companies and shareholders to digest in the...more
2/17/2025
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Schedule 13G ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholders
On January 31, 2025, Vanguard issued its proxy voting policy for US portfolio companies, following the publication of BlackRock’s proxy voting guidelines for benchmark policies – US securities in December 2024. The updates...more
2024 was an active year for environmental, social and governance (ESG) regulations, voluntary reporting standards, and stakeholder policies. While the incoming Trump administration is expected to halt federal sustainability...more
On December 17, 2024, one of the two most influential proxy advisory firms, ISS, released its Proxy Voting Guidelines Benchmark Policy Changes for 2025: US, Canada, and Americas Regional, which provides updates to its voting...more
As we previously reported, in October 2023, California enacted SB 54, a law requiring venture capital (VC) firms with a nexus to California to report data regarding the diversity of the founding members of the portfolio...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules and form amendments intended to improve access to and management of accounts on its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system that are...more
On August 31, 2024, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 219, approving certain technical amendments to the climate disclosure requirements under Senate Bill 253 (greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions) and Senate Bill...more
ISS and Glass Lewis annual policy surveys have launched -
As is typical, executive compensation issues are covered in the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis annual policy surveys this year, with each...more
There are a number of US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting implications arising from the server-related outages caused by CrowdStrike’s defective software update on July 19, 2024, and their impacts on public...more
On June 3, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered entry of a preliminary injunction blocking venture capital firm Fearless Fund from administering a grant program through its philanthropic foundation for...more