The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rule amendments and an interpretation concerning the proxy advisory industry on July 22. According to the Commission’s three-member majority, the changes are “to ensure that clients of proxy voting advice businesses have reasonable and timely access to more transparent, accurate and complete information on which to make voting decisions.” Critics of the rule, such as Commissioner (and lone dissenter) Allison Herren Lee, see the measures as “unwarranted, unwanted, and unworkable.”
Proxy Advisor Rule Changes
The rule amendments are based on the Commission’s characterization that proxy voting advice constitutes a “solicitation” under the proxy ...