SEC Archives

SEC approves broker voting reforms, promises to look at the plumbing

In a widely anticipated move, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has moved forward with an aggressive reform program to update the US proxy system. The SEC met today (01/07/09) to approve the New York Stock Exchange’s proposal regarding broker …

Financial Mail on Sunday: The Information Gap, investors here told less

Angry shareholder groups are calling on regulators to overhaul rules that mean UK companies can provide dramatically different information to investors in the U.S. and here.

Sarah Wilson, chief executive of respected shareholder advisory group Manifest, described it as …

US Chamber of Commerce debates shareholder proxy access

The US Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness conference convened this week to look at the impact of shareholder activism and shareholder rights. Two interesting themes have emerged from reports of the conference, firstly research into the impact …

SEC to consider broker discretionary voting

The SEC has three key governance reforms on the agenda for its July 1 “Sunshine Act Meeting” :

Item 1: The Commission will consider whether to propose amendments to the proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to …

Europe’s in chains

Whilst it’s pretty certain that Tina Arena didn’t have the travails of institutional investors in mind when she sang her smash hit “I’m In Chains”, it captures pleas that may have more resonance in such circles than the song itself.…

SEC taps investors for input

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has announced the creation of new advisory committee which is intended to give investors a greater opportunity for input on the Commission’s reform program.

SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar is the primary sponsor of the 18-person committee …

Ireland ‘Say-on-Pay’ gathers momentum

Manifest’s campaign to ensure shareholders at Irish companies have the opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the remuneration report gathered momentum over the weekend, with a full page article in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. Last month …

ProxyGovernance & IRRCi research study on hybrid boards

A new study prepared by Manifest’s US partner, PROXY Governance with sponsorship by the IRRC Institute, “Effectiveness of Hybrid Boards,” analyzes 120 “hybrid boards” formed from 2005 through 2008 to evaluate their effectiveness in two areas: changes in business strategy …

Driving Sustainable Carbon Markets

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change has called for urgent action to boost the effectiveness of carbon markets and the mitigation of climate change risk in developing countries in their recent report ‘Toward an Effective Global Carbon Market’.
The …

SEC Votes to Extend Shareholder Rights

Owners of USA Inc today (May 20) got the news they’ve been waiting for – the SEC has voted to propose new rules which will enable them to nominate their own board candidates. The proposal was passed in a narrow …