Amy Freedman, Michael Fein, and Ian Robertson, of Kingsdale Advisors write: Anecdotally, at Kingsdale, we know, from our conversations with shareholders and from witnessing the expansion of in-house governance teams, that shareholders are taking back the decision-making process (to the extent it ever really left) as governance is increasingly seen not only as a risk…
Tag: proxy advisory firms
Commissioner Lee: Statement on Shareholder Rights
Commissioner Allison Herrren Lee expressed her objections to the Republican Commissioners’ proposed rule on proxy proposals and proxy advisors, starting with the core point that no one has documents any kind of actual problem. There is a common theme that unites the two proposals before us today: they both would operate to suppress the exercise…
Commissioner Jackson: Statement on Proposals to Restrict Shareholder Voting
On November 5, the SEC issued its proposed rules on shareholder proposals and proxy advisors and they are atrocious, violating every possible procedural and substantive requirement for administrative rule making. We will be commenting, urging others to comment, and covering the proceedings in detail. First, the statement objecting to the proposal from Commissioner Robert Jackson:…
ISS Files Suit Against the SEC Re New Proxy Rules
The SEC is expected to reveal new proposed proxy rules next Tuesday, but ISS did not wait for their formal announcement. They have filed a lawsuit against the SEC. ISS claims that the upcoming rulemaking is invalid. An excerpt from the complaint: First, the Release exceeds the SEC’s statutory authority under Section 14(a) of the…
Nell Minow: Response to the Chamber of Commerce’s Outrageous Comment to DOL
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow has submitted a comment to the Department of Labor on proxy advisory firms and proxy voting by pension fiduciaries. This is a follow-up to two previous letters on the issue and in response to a letter from the Chamber of Commerce calling for the same kinds of restrictions on proxy…
CII Letter to the SEC on Proxy Advisors
CII members have written to the SEC to express very serious concerns about the SEC’s recent actions with regard to proxy advisory firms. We are disappointed that the SEC did not ask for public comment on its new Proxy Advisor Interpretation and Guidance before issuance. We would ask that the SEC re-consider that interpretation and…
The SEC Almost Completely Gives Up on Regulating Proxy Advisors
The massive and underhanded effort by corporate insiders to impose limits on the sole source of independent research, analysis, and regulations has almost completely failed. What the CEO-funded fake dark money front group the Main Street Investors Coalition wanted was to regulate proxy advisory firms (independent and hired — or not — by investors) like proxy…
The SEC should not limit the right of investors to sponsor shareholder resolutions: Guest Post from Timothy Smith, Walden Asset Management
The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has just announced its plans to present a revised Rule that will limit the ability of investors to file shareholder resolutions for votes at company stockholder meetings. This comes amidst a concerted effort by certain business groups to sharply limit shareholders’ ability to exercise these rights as owners of…
U.S. SEC to consider new guidance on investor use of proxy advisors – Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said it would hold a meeting next week on whether to publish new guidance regarding the responsibilities of investors when relying on so-called proxy advisors.The proposal comes amid a push by the corporate lobby to rein in proxy advisors, which recommend how investors should vote in…
Second Supplement to our SEC Comment on Proxy Advisory Firms
Second supplement to our previous comment: We endorse the comment of Ken Bertsch of the Council of Institutional Investors fully and incorporate it by reference into our own. We note that there has yet to be a single specific example of a proxy vote that was incorrectly or harmfully cast as a result of inappropriate,…
