Some proxy advisors and institutional investors have made changes to their diversity policies and mandates, including the following ...more
3/31/2025
/ BlackRock ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Investors ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting ,
Shareholders ,
State Street ,
Vanguard
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
2/10/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Nasdaq ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Activism
Over the last five years, stockholder activism has undergone significant transformation, shaped by changing market conditions, regulatory developments, and evolving societal expectations. Activism has continued to spread...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy voting advisory firms in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the U.S. market for the 2024...more
1/4/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholders
Broadly considered, stockholder activism has been a significant phenomenon among the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues including in the form of...more
Following the death of George Floyd and mass protests against racial inequity in 2020 culminating years of slowly building stakeholder pressure on various aspects of diversity, many companies expressed their commitment to...more
9/22/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Capital ,
Proxy Voting ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Shareholders ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
This comprehensive report includes five-year trend data, covering the 2018-2022 proxy seasons, for annual meeting participation, director elections, say-on-pay and other proposals among the technology and life sciences...more
11/22/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Proxy Proposals ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Surveys
On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) to the proxy rules related to proxy advisory firms and (2) released proposed rules (“Proposed Rules”) regarding the...more
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections as discussed in Release No. 34-93596 (the Adopting Release). Universal...more
11/30/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Contested Elections ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
New Rules ,
Nominee Directors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Universal Proxy Cards
Shareholder activism has been a significant phenomenon amongst the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues. As such activism has continued to grow, it...more
11/19/2021
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Life Sciences ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Silicon Valley ,
Stock Ownership ,
Technology Sector
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed amendments to the proxy solicitation rules, directly targeting proxy advisory firms (Release No. 34-87457). Consistent with the updated interpretative guidance the SEC...more
11/19/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings
A Comparison of Silicon Valley Public Companies and the Large Public Companies of the S&P 100 -
This comprehensive report covers trends in stockholder voting at annual meetings in the 2018 proxy season among the technology...more
10/15/2018
/ Annual Meeting ,
Audited Financial Statements ,
Auditors ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Life Sciences ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Technology Sector