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
Some proxy advisors and institutional investors have made changes to their diversity policies and mandates, including the following ...more
Citing recent DEI developments in the U.S., ISS released its Statement on Diversity Factors in Director Elections on February 11, 2025 announcing that it will “indefinitely halt consideration of certain diversity factors in...more
On January 10th, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the court) ruled that American Airlines, Inc. (American) and the American Airlines Employee Benefits Committee (together, the Defendants)...more
As companies begin preparing for the 2025 proxy season, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading providers of corporate governance solutions and proxy advisory services, recently issued...more
Whether, and the extent to which, a plan fiduciary can consider nonpecuniary environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) objectives in selecting plan investments has been a hot-button issue for many years, with the view on...more
Following a bench trial, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) held that “that Defendants breached their fiduciary duty by failing to loyally act solely in the retirement plan's best financial interests by allowing their corporate...more
In December 2024, BlackRock released its updated U.S. proxy voting guidelines for benchmark policies. The changes will become effective as of January 2025. ...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
On July 12, 2023, Vinson & Elkins counsel Jon Solorzano, former Senior Director, Legal and Corporate Development for The Clorox Company, joined Pam Cone of Amity Advisory for “ESG: Balancing Priorities at the Leadership...more
The world’s largest asset manager stressed that sustainability issues will continue to be fundamental to companies’ long-term economic outlook. On 17 January 2022, Larry Fink, the founder and chief executive of...more
According to the Financial Times, “[p]ension funds and retail investors have complained for years over their lack of ability to vote at annual meetings when using an asset manager.” Last week, BlackRock, the largest asset...more
Although BlackRock, which manages assets valued at over $9 trillion, and its CEO, Laurence Fink, have long played an outsized role in promoting corporate sustainability and social responsibility, BlackRock has also long been...more
The outside pressure has been on. As reported by Bloomberg, “[e]nvironmental advocates in cities including New York, Miami, San Francisco, London and Zurich targeted BlackRock for a wave of protests in mid-April, holding up...more
The Final Hampton-Alexander Review regarding women on boards has been published. This business-led independent Review has achieved significant progress - women now make up around 40%, in aggregate, of the non-executive...more
Key Pointss - Large asset managers like BlackRock and State Street have recently published updates to their proxy voting guidelines primarily focusing on diversity and inclusion and climate risk disclosures. -...more
In his 2021 letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink asked companies to disclose a “plan for how their business model will be compatible with a net zero economy”—that is, “one that emits no more carbon dioxide than it...more
Although it may seem like the last millennium, it was only in January of this year that the CEO of BlackRock, Laurence Fink, in his annual letter to CEOs, announced a number of initiatives designed to put “sustainability at...more
In January 2020, two of the largest asset managers, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) and BlackRock, emphasized that they will hold Boards of Directors accountable for not making significant progress on sustainability and...more
As scrutiny of public company leadership increases, corporations are feeling the pressure to get out ahead of criticism by examining and adjusting the makeup of their boards. This makes 2020 a great time for business leaders...more
In a previous blog post, we discussed the Delaware Chancery Court’s decision in Saba Capital Master Fund, Ltd. v. Blackrock Credit Allocation Income Trust and its relevance to the interpretation of advance notice bylaw...more
The Situation: BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm, announced initiatives to make climate change and other sustainability issues a cornerstone of its investment strategy, including plans to increase offerings...more
BlackRock’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink issued his annual letter to CEOs and a letter to clients on January 14, 2020. Both letters focused on the importance of climate change and sustainability in the...more
Was it the heartbreaking photos of scorched koalas in Australia? Was it the pressure from activists such as As You Sow, which submitted a shareholder proposal asking for a report on how the company plans to implement the new...more
In this year’s annual letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink once again advocates the importance of a long-term approach, at the same time mourning the prevalence of political dysfunction and acknowledging the resulting...more