SEC to Examine Proxy Advisory Process, Chair Atkins Says

The head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission said the regulator will consider reforms for proxy advisors as the industry, which provides guidance to shareholders, continues to face greater scrutiny.

“We’ll be looking at this entire area and come out with proposals and clarifications,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said on Fox Business Friday.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins

Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. breached US antitrust laws by advising shareholders on how to vote on politically charged topics, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week.

ISS said that as a registered investment ...