Wilson Sonsini partners Sebastian Alsheimer and Doug Schnell recently joined The Corporate Director podcast to discuss the evolving landscape of shareholder activism. They provided practical advice on protecting against shareholder activism and engaging in effective shareholder engagement. Listen to the podcast on Diligent’s website (here) or on our

Continue Reading The Corporate Director Podcast | Tips and Trends Shaping the 2025 Proxy Season

As we reported in our Preparing for the 2025 Proxy Season client alert, Glass Lewis announced on February 18, 2025, that it was reviewing its diversity-related voting guidelines “in the face of the U.S. Administration’s recent Executive Orders and overall stance on DEI,” which are further described in our 2025 Environmental and Social Developments client alert. On March 4, 2025, Glass Lewis emailed its clients that it had completed its review and decided, beginning on March 10, to “implement a bifurcated approach to offering voting guidance on board elections and DEI-related shareholder proposals at U.S companies.”Continue Reading Glass Lewis Stands by Its Diversity-Related Voting Guidelines but Will Include Flag

Wilson Sonsini partner Tamara Brightwell recently joined the Diligent Institute to discuss significant trends from the 2024 proxy season and what to expect in the upcoming 2025 proxy season. She discussed a broad range of topics, including key issues raised by shareholders this proxy season, major trends and changes for

Continue Reading Inside Today’s Boardroom | Proxy Season Trends and Tips

On August 1, 2024, ISS Governance (ISS) announced the launch of its Annual Benchmark Policy Survey. The survey results will inform ISS’s policy development for 2025 and beyond. For the U.S. market, the survey solicits views on poison pills and executive compensation. In addition, the survey solicits views on global environmental and social topics including climate-related shareholder proposals, disclosure of Scope 3 GHG emissions targets, and shareholder proposals requesting disclosure of workforce diversity metrics.Continue Reading ISS and Glass Lewis Launch Annual Policy Surveys

This recent post on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance submitted by Wilson Sonsini discusses that the 2024 proxy season, the second year with universal proxy cards, has produced incremental evidence of the effect that universal proxy has had on proxy fights and on advance notice bylaws with

Continue Reading Developments with Universal Proxy Cards and Advance Notice Bylaws

On November 6, 2023, Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) announced the scheduled November 20 opening of its peer group submission window for U.S. and Canadian companies with annual meetings slated to be held between January 15, 2024, and September 30, 2024, and for European companies with meetings anticipated to be

Continue Reading ISS Peer Group Submission Window Opens November 20; Glass Lewis Peer Group Submission Window Already Open