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?
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
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
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
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
Canadian shareholder activism continued its post-pandemic resurgence into the first half of 2023. Emerging trends include the “activist swarm,” where multiple—yet uncoordinated—activists converge on a single target with...more
Increased focus from investors, regulators, and employees on racial, ethnic and gender diversity has heightened scrutiny of public companies' commitments to diversity in their workforce and in particular on their boards. ...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 recent years "overboarding" has become an important issue for many UK companies and investors alike. Several large asset managers as well as proxy advisors, including Vanguard, BlackRock, and LGIM, have tightened their...more
Public companies initiating the year-end reporting process will need to consider, and in many cases take steps to address, a number of significant developments and issues. To assist companies in this process, Mintz has...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
Throughout the last few years, investors, proxy advisors, governance professionals and a number of stakeholders have expressed a keen interest in how companies are managing their environmental, social and governance (ESG)...more
Takeaways - Independence is neither a fixed condition nor a universal status for all purposes. Events and relationships can disqualify an otherwise independent director from participating in decisions.. No matter how pure a...more
Yesterday the SEC approved new proxy rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards by management and shareholders soliciting proxy votes for their candidates in non-exempt director election contests, as well as mandating...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
John Jenkins at DealLawyers.com took note of this recent blog by Professor Ann Lipton concerning the stockholder vote at The Tribune Publishing Company. The gist of both these blogs was the decision by a 24% stockholder in...more
In the wake of COVID-19, global stock prices have plummeted. Yet, the current depressed state of the markets may distort the long-term outlook of many businesses. Hostile bidders and unwelcome activists may capitalize on this...more