A new statement from the Business Roundtable commits to stakeholder interests instead of making the primary purpose of the company shareholder value. We have some concerns. And a strong sense of deja vu. The last time the BRT was excited about stakeholders it was during the era of hostile takeovers, and a feint to the…
Tag: cii
CII Spring Meeting 2019
The Council of Institutional Investors meets in Washington DC every spring, and as fascinating and timely as the presentations and panels are, what goes on behind the scenes is increasingly even more significant. VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow made presentations at two of these behind-the-scenes events, discussing buybacks with members of the CII board and…
CII Study on Shareholder Proposal Resubmission Thresholds
CII has responded to questions about whether the current SEC rules on the level of support required to resubmit a shareholder proposal should be raised with a new study. The findings: • The vast majority of shareholder proposals satisfy the current resubmission thresholds of 3%, 6% and 10%. About 95% of proposals are eligible for…
Why Did the SEC Rescind the Proxy Advisory Letters? CII’s View
As we noted earlier, the SEC has rescinded two 2004 letters about proxy advisory firms before the upcoming roundtable on proxy issues. We like CII’s analysis of what is going on. But some Washington lobbyists believe SEC Chair Jay Clayton ordered the move, at least in part, to protect the agency’s ability to issue staff…
CII on Unequal Voting Shares and Index Funds
The Council of Institutional Investors has written an exceptionally thoughtful reply to MSCI on the issue of dual class stock and index funds, in response to MSCI’s Consultation on the Treatment of Unequal Voting Structures in the MSCI Equity Indexes. The Council of Institutional Investors (CII) is committed to the alignment of economic rights and…
Report from the CII Winter meeting: ESG
Even in Washington, the numbers are impressive. The Council of Institutional Investors, who met in Washington DC this week, represents 23 trillion (with a t) dollars, mostly made up of retirement and other savings of working families. Compare that to the entire budget of the US government, less than two trillion a year. Like most…
Investor Group Challenges Access to Companies’ Boards – WSJ
The Council of Institutional Investors says the way so-called proxy access policies have been drafted often is unworkable and possibly toothless. The group, known as CII, represents 118 pension funds and endowments that manage more than $3 trillion in assets. It plans to release a checklist of “best practices” on Wednesday. Proxy access gives shareholders…
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