ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
What are ISS and Glass Lewis and Why Should My Bank Care?
Updated Principles of Remuneration - On the 9 October 2024, the Investment Association (‘IA’), a trade body for UK investment managers, published the Principles of Remuneration (the Principles). IA members are...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments to Form N-PX on November 2, 2022. Previously, Form N-PX applied solely to registered investment companies (i.e., mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and...more
Much has been written, on ML BeneBits and elsewhere, about the US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) so-called “ESG Rule” issued in November 2022 (the DOL Rule). The DOL Rule, in part, addressed the appropriate factors for an...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 2 November 2022, by a vote of 3-2 (with Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda objecting), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted, substantially as proposed in September 2021, final form and rule...more
On 2 November 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3–2, along party lines, to adopt a final rule and form amendments (together, the Final Rule) that would require additional disclosure on Form N-PX...more
On October 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the “DOL”) published in the Federal Register a new proposed regulation (the “Proposed Rules”) on fiduciary responsibility in...more
On April 9, 2021, the Division of Examinations of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“Division” or “staff”) issued a risk alert to highlight the staff’s observations from its recent examinations of investment...more
On March 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a statement that it intends to revisit its final rules issued late last year on “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments” (summarized here) and...more
President Joe Biden has been in office for 34 days and his nominee for Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, has not yet been confirmed. So far, Mr. Walsh has not publicly stated much regarding his views or intended priorities...more
On September 4, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that would confirm its position that ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty apply to an ERISA plan fiduciary’s...more
Keeping up the steady stream of new and proposed guidance coming from the US Department of Labor (DOL), the Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a proposed regulation on September 4, 2020 that would require...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On the heels of the Department of Labor’s June proposed regulation throwing cold water on plan fiduciaries’ selecting investments in the environment, social and governance (ESG) space, the agency has now...more
On July 22, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published supplementary guidance in the form of a policy statement (Policy Statement) regarding the proxy voting responsibilities of investment advisers under...more
Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to the proxy rules. ...more
The nation’s largest shareholder advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), recently filed suit against the SEC over new guidelines meant to give investors more transparency into how proxy advisory firms...more
In this issue, we summarize regulatory, litigation and industry developments from October 2019 to early January 2020 impacting the investment management sector, including SEC action on use of derivatives by registered...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
SEC Sanctions Private Fund Adviser and Chief Investment Officer for Valuation Policy Failures - On June 4, 2019, the SEC announced that Deer Park Road Management Company, LP (“Deer Park”) agreed to pay a $5 million...more
SEC Adopts ETF Rule - On September 25, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unanimously adopted Rule 6c-11 under the 1940 Act to modernize the regulation of exchange-traded funds by establishing a clear and...more
The SEC adopted Guidance that discusses, among other matters, the ability of investment advisers to establish a variety of different voting arrangements with their clients and matters they should consider when they use the...more
As part of its overall review of how the federal proxy rules apply to proxy voting advice by proxy advisory firms, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published two interpretive releases in August 2019, aimed at...more
The Background: The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") published guidance affecting proxy advisory firms and the investment advisers that rely on them as a follow-up to its November 2018 proxy process roundtable. ...more
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued two interpretive releases involving proxy voting and proxy voting advice. In the first release, the SEC provided guidance regarding the responsibilities of...more
On August 21, a sharply divided Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued two interpretive releases addressing the proxy voting obligations of investment advisers and the obligations of proxy advisory firms....more