ESG and SEC Enforcement in 2022
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Advisers Act regulatory agenda
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has continued to be the subject of increasing regulatory, legislative, and litigation scrutiny. The scrutiny has accelerated following the results of the 2024 US federal...more
Citing recent DEI developments in the U.S., ISS released its Statement on Diversity Factors in Director Elections on February 11, 2025 announcing that it will “indefinitely halt consideration of certain diversity factors in...more
On January 31, 2025, Vanguard issued its proxy voting policy for US portfolio companies, following the publication of BlackRock’s proxy voting guidelines for benchmark policies – US securities in December 2024. The updates...more
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) recently released its updates to its Proxy Voting Guidelines. These updates will take effect for all annual meetings held after February 1, 2025....more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, two leading proxy advisory firms, recently announced updates to their U.S. proxy voting policies in advance of the 2025 proxy and annual meeting season. Public...more
As companies begin preparing for the 2025 proxy season, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading providers of corporate governance solutions and proxy advisory services, recently issued...more
In preparation for the upcoming 2025 proxy season, issuers should familiarize themselves with the updated Canadian proxy voting guidelines recently published by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass, Lewis &...more
On January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas issued a much-anticipated ruling in Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., which marks the first time that a federal judge has written an on-the-merits...more
For the 2025 proxy and annual reporting season, there are a number of key issues to consider and keep an eye on for further developments as preparations commence. This alert provides an overview of these issues and updates in...more
Just before the holidays got going, BlackRock updated their voting policies and engagement priorities. Here’s a laundry list of those updated documents...more
Over the last five years, stockholder activism has undergone significant transformation, shaped by changing market conditions, regulatory developments, and evolving societal expectations. Activism has continued to spread...more
Back in February, in ISS v. SEC, the D.C. Federal District Court vacated the SEC’s 2020 rule that advice from proxy advisory firms was a “solicitation” under the proxy rules. Both the SEC and National Association of...more
Summary of June 2024 Annual General Shareholder Meeting Season Shareholder Proposals - - While the total number of shareholder proposals is comparable to the June 2023 general meeting season, the number of companies...more
A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more
On May 13, 2024, a group of 21 Democratic Congressmen--4 Senators and 16 Representatives, as well as the D.C. Delegate--submitted a letter to SEC Chairman Gensler, urging him “to finalize an anti-greenwashing rule you...more
A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more
ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sunday, January 21, 2024, seeking a declaratory judgment to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement...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
Broadly considered, stockholder activism has been a significant phenomenon among the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues including in the form of...more
Certain portions of the Department of Labor's ESG regulation concerning investment and proxy voting decisions for ERISA fiduciaries will become effective on December 1, 2023 (our alert describing the regulation can be found...more
In late 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued final regulations (the “Final Rules”) which address the extent to which ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors when...more
If you manage a private investment fund that is subject to Title I of ERISA and is not a feeder fund (an “ERISA Fund”), you should, before December 1, 2023, take the steps described below in order to comply with the DOL’s...more
Following the death of George Floyd and mass protests against racial inequity in 2020 culminating years of slowly building stakeholder pressure on various aspects of diversity, many companies expressed their commitment to...more