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?
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
Vinson & Elkins’ Shareholder Activism practice co-heads Lawrence Elbaum and Patrick Gadson will discuss how companies need to prepare against the year round attacks by shareholder activists. In a conversation moderated by...more
“ESG month” may not be exactly what you think. It’s the moniker, according to Politico, ascribed to the plan of the House Financial Services Committee, reflected in this interim report from its ESG Working Group, “to spend...more
In this paper, BlackRock Investment Stewardship provides a preview of its perspective on climate-related shareholder proposals up for votes during the current proxy season. In 2021, BIS “supported 47% of environmental and...more
As companies finalize materials for annual shareholder meetings, we recommend consideration of the following key requirements and disclosures: SEC proxy filing requirements; website and submission requirements; proxy...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
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2022 annual meeting and reporting season. We have compiled this overview of key issues — including SEC disclosure requirements, recent SEC guidance,...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
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
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
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued rule updates and guidance in 2019 that are intended to simplify certain public reporting requirements, clarify the staff’s expectations with respect to no-action relief...more
New Rules, Proposed Rules, Guidance and Alerts - PROPOSED RULES – SEC Proposes Rule Changes for Proxy Advisory Firms – On November 5, 2019, the SEC issued a release proposing amendments to the federal proxy rules...more
On November 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to its rules governing proxy solicitations. If adopted in their current form, these proposals could significantly affect interactions...more
Glass Lewis recently posted its comprehensive 2020 voting guidelines, which are summarized on the first page of the 2020 voting guidelines as well as on the Glass Lewis blog. Among other things, the 2020 voting guidelines...more
Stinson has prepared an analysis of proposed rules recently adopted by the SEC at an open meeting on November 5. SEC Commissioners voted 3-2 to propose potentially significant changes to the shareholder proposals...more
On November 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission in a 3-2 vote proposed new rules on two high profile topics: proxy advisory firms and shareholder proposals. New rules on these topics have been anticipated since...more
At the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “Commission”) open meeting yesterday, the Commissioners approved two new proposed rules in their ongoing efforts to modernize proxy solicitation and shareholder proxy access,...more
Yesterday the SEC announced the agenda for its upcoming open meeting to be held on Tuesday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m. EST. All SEC open meetings are webcast and a hyperlink to the webcast will be posted to www.sec.gov shortly...more
This newsletter discusses noteworthy updates, key regulatory decisions and upcoming compliance reminders. In this edition, we review: ...SEC Changes Approach to Shareholder Proposal No-Action Requests ...SEC Issues...more
As noted in thecorporatecounsel.net blog, last week, the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held an event discussing corporate governance and possible reforms. Both SEC Chair Jay...more
On April 27, 2018, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Nasdaq, along with certain technology and biotechnology groups, released a policy paper titled “Expanding...more
While passage in the House seems likely, the Financial Choice Act may undergo significant changes before it may pass in the Senate. Here is a summary of certain governance and executive compensation provisions that are...more
As part of BakerHostetler’s commitment to serve as a strategic business partner, we are pleased to publish this first edition of our Securities & Governance Bulletin. This resource is designed to keep executives, corporate...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
The WSJ reported on Friday afternoon that proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis may recommend against company nominees for director when the company excludes a shareholder proposal for proxy access on the basis of a conflicting...more