Last week Institutional Shareholder Services updated its proxy voting guidelines for annual shareholder meetings to be held on or after February 1, 2020. The updates take a major step forward to advocate greater gender diversity on public company boards, express fresh opposition to super-voting shares and evergreen plan provisions, enhance support for independent board chairs, and make other important modifications.
Investor advocates are turning the spotlight on the corporate governance practices of newly public companies that they regard as hostile to shareholder interests. In connection with their IPOs, most companies adopt customary defensive measures to protect themselves from activist investors, who might otherwise take advantage of their typically smaller market capitalizations to try to seize control of the company. These measures often include a classified board of directors, whose terms are staggered over three years. … More