‘Thick Skin’ Needed to Digest SEC Proxy Rule Criticism: Official

The SEC’s attempt to impose new regulations on proxy advisory firms has triggered some “pretty harsh” feedback, a top official said.

Ted Yu, chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s mergers and acquisitions office, said Thursday that the agency’s proxy firm proposal is the most controversial of its recent rulemaking. The rule would place more restrictions on Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co., which the business community has said have too much power over companies’ corporate governance.

The commission has received thousands of letters in connection with its proposal and a roundtable discussion on proxy firms. Opposition ...