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?
On July 1, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ended more than five years of uncertainty and confusion by ruling that proxy voting advice issued by proxy advisors is not a “solicitation” under...more
On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2337 (“SB 2337”), a novel regulation that will require significant disclosure obligations for proxy advisors, such as ISS and Glass Lewis, for their voting...more
On July 1, 2025, a federal court of appeals held that the SEC's regulation of proxy advice exceeded its authority and the SEC's 2020 proxy advisor regulations are not valid. The court closely tracks the district court's...more
On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2337 ("SB 2337") to impose first-of-its-kind regulation and significant disclosure obligations on proxy advisors, such as ISS and Glass Lewis. SB 2337 aims to...more
On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 2337 (SB 2337), which imposes new regulations on proxy advisory firms — such as ISS and Glass Lewis — when providing voting recommendations and other...more
Recently, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2337 (SB 2337) in an effort to regulate proxy advisors – including ISS and Glass Lewis – when they provide proxy voting recommendations for those companies that are either...more
We have seen, a mere few months into President Trump’s second term, a remarkably transformational set of priorities across the federal government, which have had dramatic impacts on the private sector generally and public...more
Proxy advisors, and specifically ISS and Glass Lewis, are in the business of advising asset managers on whether to vote for or against the thousands of director nominees and proposals that are presented to shareholders each...more
Some proxy advisors and institutional investors have made changes to their diversity policies and mandates, including the following ...more
Florida AG James Uthmeier announced an investigation into whether proxy advising companies Glass Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. may have misrepresented their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and...more
Under the new administration, several shifts in E&S have impacted public companies across a number of different practice areas. In light of these developments, companies are taking a wide array of approaches to disclosure,...more
As most public companies know, shareholder outreach is often an important part of the playbook when a company is seeking approval of compensation-related proposals at an annual meeting. A company may engage with shareholders...more
This Cooley Alert that I blogged about earlier today – penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Luci Altman, and Michael Mencher – has been updated for this development...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, 2025, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) announced a change to its voting policy with respect to board diversity. ISS will no longer consider the gender and racial and/or ethnic diversity of U.S. company...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) and Glass Lewis have published their Canadian benchmark policy guidelines for the 2025 proxy season. Key updates focus on the board’s oversight of artificial intelligence (“AI”),...more
À l’approche de la période de sollicitation de procurations de 2025, les émetteurs pourraient vouloir prendre connaissance des lignes directrices canadiennes en matière de vote par procuration émises par Institutional...more
President-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to power on January 20, 2025, has created uncertainty and challenges for proxy advisory firms, such as ISS and Glass Lewis, which provide voting recommendations to investors on...more
ISS and Glass Lewis generally publish changes to their proxy voting policies around this time of year. Glass Lewis recently issued its 2025 US Policy Guidelines listing changes and clarifications....more
The proposals seek to address engagement feedback which called for a more effective stewardship model that would support UK competitiveness and growth. On 11 November 2024, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) launched...more
On November 4, 2024, ISS Governance (ISS) announced the scheduled November 11, 2024, opening of its peer group submission window for U.S. and Canadian corporations with annual meetings slated to be held between February 1,...more
Recent reforms in the UK market have led to less prescriptive executive remuneration principles that encourage companies to tailor structures to their business, strategy, and performance while consulting with shareholders....more
Shall we catch up on some of the recent developments regarding the SEC’s proxy advisor rules? First, let’s take a look at what’s happening with the appeal of the opinion of the D.C. Federal District Court in ISS v. SEC,...more
Is it ok for an agency to change its mind? Well that depends. If the agency was “arbitrary and capricious” in failing to provide an adequate explanation to justify its change, a court may well vacate that about-face. At...more
SEC enforcement director speaks on AI ‘washing’ - In our April 2024 One-Minute Reads, we covered the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) “washing.” Gurbir Grewal, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission...more