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 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 January 2020, Institutional Shareholder Services and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to stay litigation filed by ISS in October challenging the SEC’s interpretation and guidance related to voting...more
Preparations for annual reporting on Form 10-K and the 2020 proxy season have begun in earnest for many companies. We have summarized certain governance and disclosure developments that should be considered in the course of...more
Caremark Developments -- Do You Know What You Don’t Know? In 1996, the Delaware courts created what has become known as a Caremark claim: an allegation that directors failed to exercise oversight of the organization....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
On October 16 the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K (CF) (SLB 14K) to provide updated guidance on the application of the "ordinary business" exception to a company's obligation under...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
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
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued guidance on the applicability of certain U.S. proxy rules to voting advice given by proxy advisory firms, such as ISS and Glass Lewis. This initiative...more
On August 21, 2019, in a 3-2 vote, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted in favor of publishing guidance (guidance) regarding the proxy voting responsibilities of investment advisers (IAs). The guidance,...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held an open meeting on August 21, 2019, (the Open Meeting) and approved two items: (1) guidance regarding the proxy voting responsibilities of investment advisers under the...more
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved interpretative guidance relating to (i) the application of proxy rules to proxy advisory firms and (ii) the fiduciary role of investment advisers within...more
At an open meeting held on August 21, 2019 (the “Meeting”), the Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance (the “Guidance”), by a 3-2 vote, to assist investment advisers when conducting...more
Possibly signaling the future direction of regulation of proxy advisers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Aug. 21 issued two sets of interpretive guidance, one regarding proxy advisory firms under the...more
With the increased concentration of share ownership by institutional investors over the past several decades, the influence of proxy advisory firms on shareholder votes has grown dramatically, all while the proxy regulatory...more
On August 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance to clarify investment advisers’ fiduciary obligations when voting client proxies. On the same day, the SEC also issued an interpretation of Rule 14a-1(l)...more
At an open meeting today, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance to assist investment advisers in fulfilling their proxy voting responsibilities in using the services of a proxy advisory firm, and provided...more