What are ISS and Glass Lewis and Why Should My Bank Care?
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) recently released its Annual Benchmark Policy Survey (the "Policy Survey"). In keeping with its prior practice, ISS seeks responses from institutional shareholders, issuers,...more
On December 19, 2023, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) released its updates to its Proxy Voting Guidelines. Somewhat unusually, ISS made only one change to its voting recommendation policies for U.S. public...more
It appears the lone ISS policy update for the US will be to Severance Agreements for Executives/Golden Parachutes. ISS will vote on a case-by-case basis on shareholder proposals requiring that executive severance...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the two most influential proxy advisory firms, recently released updates to their voting policies for the 2024 proxy season. The ISS US policy update will apply for...more
Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), the two major proxy advisory firms, recently issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. These policy updates...more
Delaware corporate law continually evolves, and 2022 was no exception. As the year draws to a close and proxy season approaches, here are highlights of significant changes that may impact 2023 annual meeting plans, among...more
As companies prepare for the 2023 proxy season, their ESG performance, as evaluated and rated by various third-party ratings providers, is a key focus. With the growing importance of ESG to institutional investors,...more
As boards of directors of public companies prepare for their 2023 annual meetings and, relatedly, consider the voting results from 2022 annual meetings, we are being asked for advice concerning (a) the duties of...more
ISS has released the results of its annual global benchmark policy survey, a survey that is used every year as part of ISS’ policy development process. This year, the survey included a number of questions on climate change...more
ISS Policy Survey - Toward the end of each year, Institutional Shareholder Services updates its proxy vote recommendation policies for meetings held on or after February 1 of the following year. As part of that process,...more
Takeaways - ESG activist campaigners are likely to continue asserting themselves. Companies that have merged with SPACs and whose stock prices have slumped will be at risk for activist pressure. Watch for more activist...more
During 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rule changes and provided public companies with useful guidance on various topics. In December, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) released its...more
In the past few weeks, both major proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), have issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. These...more
Introduction - Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently published its 2022 updates to its benchmark proxy voting policies. The policies will govern ISS’ voting recommendations for shareholder meetings held on or...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
ISS has released updates to its 2022 ISS benchmark proxy voting policies. The updated policies will generally be applied for shareholder meetings taking place on or after Feb. 1, 2022, except for those updates that are being...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has released proposed updates for comment to certain of its Canadian benchmark proxy voting policies (each, a Proposed Policy) for the 2022 proxy season. The Proposed Policies are open...more
On November 3, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Staff Legal Bulletin (SLB 14L) limiting the ability of public companies to exclude from proxy statements shareholder proposals that relate to...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff (“staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L which reverses a series of...more
ISS Policy Surveys - Each November, ISS updates its proxy vote recommendation policies for meetings held after February 1 of the following year. As part of that process, ISS collects information from institutional...more
On Monday, John Jenkins at Deallawyers.com wrote about a recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision finding that as alleged, "the Director Defendants’ decisions to delegate the Proxy to the Conflicted Officer Defendants and...more
The COVID-19 pandemic, volatile market conditions, and increasing stakeholder attention to a range of environmental and social topics made 2020 a remarkably difficult year for many public companies. 2021 will bring new...more
Holding Your Annual Meeting Virtually—Lessons Learned From 2020 - In light of the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, it comes as no surprise that there was a dramatic increase in the number of virtual...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis) have both released updates to their respective Canadian proxy voting guidelines for the 2021 proxy season. The ISS updates apply to shareholder...more
On November 12, 2020, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") announced its policy updates for the 2021 proxy season, effective for meetings on or after February 1, 2021. Key updates include the following...more