Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance

Legal Action and New Analysis Argue for Return to SEC’s Proposed...

In 2020, the SEC, chaired by Jay Clayton, proposed a set of amendments aimed to add transparency and fairness to the proxy advisory process....

Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton hammers ESG shareholder proposals

Pensions & Investments
As is true for many topics, the current administration has a different viewpoint on regulating proxy advisers and shareholder proposals than the previous one....

A Conversation on Proxy Advisors with former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton

The ACCF hosts ​A Conversation about Proxy Advisors with Jay Clayton, Former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Jay Clayton served as...

WSJ Editorial: Proxy Advisers and Double Standards

The Wall Street Journal
A new study by the American Council for Capital Formation shows Glass Lewis and ISS make material errors in their recommendations to investors.

New Report: The declining number of public companies and mandatory reporting...

Washington, DC – After peaking in 1996 at more than 8,000 companies, the number of domestic US-listed public companies traded on major US exchanges...

Energy Research and Solutions Depend on All Available Resources

The Well News
Recent articles and reviews seem to be drawing more attention to a rising concern for universities and the fossil fuel companies that continue to...

Op-Ed: ESG principles must include balanced and globally aligned approaches

Investment News
This will ensure that energy and aerospace/defense sectors continue to attract the necessary investment and financing needed to guard global economic growth and national security.

Analysis of Proxy Advisors’ Recommendations During the 2021 Proxy Season

The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance publishes a report, Analysis of Proxy Advisors’ Recommendations During the 2021 Proxy Season, by Kyle Isakower,...

Letter: Investing in energy is the way to get to net...

Financial Times
In “Third Point blasts Shell’s efforts to walk the green tightrope” (Opinion, November 4) Brooke Masters has delivered the critical messages we will need...

Balance and Flexibility Are Keys to Building ESG Confidence

Real Clear Markets
Environmental, Social, and Governance - ESG – has been growing in prominence as its application becomes essential to investor decisions and for businesses throughout the world...

Biden Should Look to the Fossil Fuel Industry as a Partner...

Real Clear Energy
President-elect Joe Biden has made clear that climate change policy will be a centerpiece of his administration. He has pledged to return the U.S....

Should the modern corporation maximize shareholder value?

AEI
Milton Friedman’s admonition 50 years ago that the modern corporation should maximize shareholder value remains controversial. We argue that under certain broad assumptions, the...

Analysis of Proxy Advisors’ Recommendations During the 2020 Proxy Season

Harvard Law School Forum
The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance publishes an ACCF analysis of Proxy Advisors

New SEC Proxy Voting Rule Would Strengthen Markets and Investors

Barron's
While most of the details have now been confirmed, there remains debate over a company’s ability to review and respond to proxy advisors’ reports, as well as the practice of “robo-voting”, where certain investors are automatically following proxy firms’ guidance without doing their own due diligence.

Battle royale: SEC locks horns with investors over proxy advisers

Financial Times
Last year, a report commissioned by the American Council for Capital Formation, a non-profit, found 139 purported “proxy adviser errors” across 94 different companies. But in a letter to the SEC last month, the CII said that when it delved into the ACCF report, it found that “most of the claimed errors were actually disagreements on analysis and methodologies.”

The Proxy Protection Racket

Wall Street Journal
Studies have found that the two firms can swing 20% of votes in proxy elections. An American Council for Capital Formation review last year found that 175 asset managers with $5 trillion of assets voted with ISS recommendations 95% of the time. Activist hedge-fund investors often enlist the proxy firms to shake up management, for better or worse.