Recently, I blogged about how ISS is soliciting input on its annual policy benchmark survey. Glass Lewis has also released its annual policy benchmark survey, with responses due by September 15th....more
8/15/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Markets ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Proxy Voting ,
Schedule 13G ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholders
I’m not well-versed in antitrust law – nor do I want to be – but this recent FTC/DOJ Statement of Interest from the antitrust lawsuit filed by the State of Texas against BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard bears on...more
8/13/2025
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investment Management ,
Stakeholder Engagement
Recently, BlackRock released its “2024 Investment Stewardship Annual Report” – here’s a 25-page executive summary. Here are six lessons learned – although note this is all about last year; not the latest proxy season...more
As noted in this WSJ article, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission recently raised concerns in a “joint statement of interest” that large asset managers – including the “Big Three” of BlackRock, Vanguard and...more
This Cooley Alert that I blogged about earlier today – penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Luci Altman, and Michael Mencher – has been updated for this development...more
For larger companies, Teneo notes that CEOs are named in sustainability reports to be ultimately responsible for their corporate climate strategies a third of the time – almost double the amount disclosed in 2023 (18%). CEOs...more
Given the late season announcement last week from ISS on its board diversity voting policies, it’s not that surprising that Glass Lewis also has now announced changes to its voting policies in this area. Glass Lewis has sent...more
In a rare move to update its voting policies in the midst of proxy season, ISS issued this press release stating it will no longer consider a board’s gender, racial or ethnic diversity when making director election...more
The SEC’s Acting Chair Mark Uyeda released this statement yesterday indicating that the agency has requested that the Eighth Circuit – where the cases challenging the SEC’s 2024 climate disclosure rules are consolidated – not...more
As I get older, my motto has been “less is more.” That certainly works for a mindful lifestyle. And it also works for pickleball, as one learns to hit the ball softly and place it cleanly rather than banging away at it to...more
It’s clear that over the past few years, investors have tweaked their voting policies to tone down use of the term “ESG.” And it’s also clear that more and more companies are changing the title of their reports relating to...more
Just before the holidays got going, BlackRock updated their voting policies and engagement priorities. Here’s a laundry list of those updated documents...more
1/8/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Proxy Voting ,
Risk Management ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
I was talking to Cooley’s Beth Sasfai and Michael Mencher about the challenges many companies are facing with ambitious climate goals that no longer seem realistic. Here’s what Beth and Michael told me (also see them in this...more