Shareholder proposal rule
Here’s an excerpt from this Cooley Alert penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Michael Mencher, Luci Altman and Vince Flynn (see the full Alert for a recap of about Vanguard’s updates): BIS introduced several notable shifts...more
BlackRock and Vanguard have released their proxy voting guidelines for the 2026 proxy season. This alert highlights the key updates in BlackRock Investment Stewardship’s (BIS) proxy voting guidelines for US securities and...more
Last month, I blogged several times about what ISS changed in its proxy voting guidelines for this proxy season. Now, ISS has updated its three sets of FAQs – consisting of Non-Compensation FAQs; Executive Compensation FAQs;...more
Here’s a summary of key updates that BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) recently made to its proxy voting guidelines, penned by Cooley’s Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Michael Mencher and Vince Flynn....more
As 2025 comes to a close, we reflect back on a relatively quiet quarter at the SEC and look ahead to possible regulatory reforms in the coming year. In this Snapshot, we review renewed calls to retool executive compensation...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis), two major proxy advisory firms in the United States, have updated their benchmark proxy voting guidelines for the 2026 proxy season. These...more
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2026 annual meeting and reporting season. We have compiled this overview of key issues — including SEC disclosure requirements, recent SEC guidance, executive...more
ISS has released its benchmark policy changes for 2026. The changes largely adopt ISS’s previously proposed policy changes. The new policies will generally apply to shareholder meetings held on or after February 1, 2026....more
ISS and Glass Lewis recently announced their annual policy updates for the upcoming proxy season....more
Glass Lewis has released its 2026 Benchmark Policy Guidelines, along with its 2026 Benchmark Policy Guidelines on Shareholder Proposals and ESG-related issues, introducing several notable changes ahead of the upcoming proxy...more
ISS updated its benchmark proxy voting policies on November 25, 2026. The updates applicable to U.S. companies are briefly summarized below. ...more
Yesterday, Glass Lewis released its Benchmark Policy changes for 2026, which are included in this 90-page document...more
Wilson Sonsini’s 2025 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report reviews the corporate governance practices and disclosures of Silicon Valley’s largest public companies. The report includes information regarding board...more
On November 25, 2025, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) announced updates to its 2026 benchmark proxy voting policies, which will be applied for shareholder meetings taking place on or after February 1, 2026....more
As discussed in more detail in Cooley’s October 10 alert, remarks by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins suggest that Delaware-incorporated companies may be able to exclude precatory (nonbinding)...more
On November 25, 2025, ISS Governance announced the release of its 2026 Benchmark Policy Updates, which will apply to shareholder meetings on or after February 1, 2026. Set forth below are key changes for U.S. companies. The...more
ISS Governance has announced its Benchmark Policy Updates for its proxy voting guidelines applicable to stockholder meetings on or after February 1, 2026....more
Last week, ISS released its updated proxy voting guidelines for 2026. Here’s a 19-page summary – and a 35-page summary of the changes for the Americas. ...more
ISS has released proposed benchmark policy changes for 2026. The proposed changes would generally apply to shareholder meetings held on or after February 1, 2026....more
If you follow legal news, you’ve no doubt seen the many alerts, blogs and articles with splashy headlines about Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although corporate governance counsel will generally take the...more
Last week, ISS launched its latest annual ‘Global Benchmark Policy Survey’ – responses are due by August 22nd. Here are the primary questions (I didn’t include the multiple-choice answers)...more
On July 24, 2025, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) announced the launch of its Annual Benchmark Policy Survey. The survey results will inform ISS’s policy development for 2026 and beyond. For the U.S. market, the...more
The 2025 proxy season (July 1, 2024 – June 20, 2025, meetings) concluded with a significant drop in the volume of shareholder proposals from the 2024 proxy season’s record high, as environmental and social (E&S) proposals...more
Our checklist and analysis present matters for companies to consider as they conduct their 2025 annual meetings and file reports to meet upcoming regulatory, shareholder and advisory deadlines. We outline key issues to...more
Recently, Glass Lewis announced the release of its 2025 U.S. Benchmark Policy Guidelines and guidelines for Shareholder Proposals & ESG-Related Issues that apply across markets. Here are 8 things to know about this year’s...more