ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
You probably remember the saga about the SEC’s rules regarding proxy advisory firms? Back in 2019, the SEC issued interpretive guidance that proxy advisory firms’ vote recommendations were, in the view of the SEC,...more
A Federal District Court has just held invalid the SEC’s rule regarding proxy advisory firms. The case dates back to 2019(!), when ISS sued the SEC and then-SEC Chair Jay Clayton in connection with the SEC’s interpretive...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
As we enter the 2023 proxy season, there are a number of new regulatory requirements, both technical and substantive, that have been implemented, and many more on the horizon. For example, many companies will need to comply...more
As companies begin preparing for the 2023 proxy season, we note that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading providers of corporate governance solutions and proxy advisory services, issued...more
On July 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to rescind several amendments to its rules governing proxy voting advice (the Final Amendments). The vote reversed some of the key provisions...more
On September 19, 2022, amendments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules governing proxy solicitations became effective. The amendments, proposed on November 17, 2021, seek to address concerns by investors and...more
Our Securities Group examines how the Securities and Exchange Commission has rescinded a pair of Trump Administration rules that affected proxy advisory firms’ ability to deliver timely advice to their clients....more
The 2022 Amendments have removed the requirements that call for proxy advisory firms claiming an exemption from proxy filing rules for solicitations to provide their proxy voting advice to subject companies and provide their...more
On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by a 3-2 vote, adopted amendments to the rules governing proxy voting advice businesses (proxy advisors), rescinding two components of the proxy rules...more
Over a decade ago, I posited the following question: "Should a proxy card specify a choice of law?" In a recently issued ruling, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster noted in the following lengthy footnote that choice of law...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
[This post revises and updates my earlier post primarily to reflect the contents of the proposing release.] - At an open meeting on November 17, the SEC voted, three to two, to propose amendments to the proxy rules that...more
In 2019, the SEC proposed changes to its proxy advisor rules (the “2019 Proposed Rules”). Later the SEC adopted final rules regarding proxy voting advice (the “2020 Final Rules”) provided by proxy advisory firms, or proxy...more
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by a 3-2 vote, proposed amendments to the rules governing proxy voting advice businesses (proxy advisors). The amendments would rescind two portions of...more
At an open meeting yesterday, the SEC took up two rulemakings aimed at shareholder voting. First, the SEC voted four to one (a bipartisan if not unanimous vote) to adopt amendments to the proxy rules—initially proposed in...more
In This Issue. The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), Gary Gensler, issued a statement on the application of the proxy rules to proxy voting advice directed to the SEC staff to consider whether...more
Newly installed Chairman Gary Gensler announced on June 1, 2021 that he is directing the SEC staff to consider whether to revisit its recent actions with respect to proxy voting advice businesses, including: ..The SEC’s...more
Whether and how to regulate proxy advisory firms, such as ISS and Glass Lewis, has long been a contentious issue, with some arguing that their vote recommendations were plagued by conflicts of interest and often erroneous,...more
Key Pointss - Large asset managers like BlackRock and State Street have recently published updates to their proxy voting guidelines primarily focusing on diversity and inclusion and climate risk disclosures. -...more
À l’approche de la prochaine période de sollicitation de procurations, les émetteurs sont invités à se familiariser avec les lignes directrices canadiennes en matière de vote par procuration respectives d’Institutional...more
The SEC’s long-awaited final rules governing voting advice provided by proxy advisory firms such as Institutional Shareholders Service (ISS) and Glass Lewis (the “final rules”) became effective on November 2, 2020. The final...more
In preparation for the upcoming proxy season, issuers should familiarize themselves with the Canadian proxy voting guidelines recently published by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. (Glass...more
You might remember that the first piece of legislation signed into law by the then-new (now outgoing) administration in 2017 was, according to the Washington Post, a bill that relied on the Congressional Review Act to...more
On December 16, the Department of Labor (the “Department”) published its final regulation addressing the fiduciary duties that apply to proxy voting and the exercise of other shareholder rights in connection with investments...more