How Much Impact Does Say-on-Pay Have on Executive Compensation?

By John W. Barry December 17, 2024 by renholding

Say-on-pay, an annual, non-binding shareholder vote on CEO compensation, is one of the primary ways of giving shareholders a voice in corporate governance. It is in essence a vote of confidence on the board of directors’ compensation decisions and the …

Israel’s Unique Approach to CEO Pay Governance

By Keren Bar-Hava and Erez Barak December 6, 2024 by renholding

The global debate surrounding CEO compensation remains important and contentious. While many countries have implemented advisory frameworks for say-on-pay votes, Israel has taken a pioneering approach with its binding dual-majority voting system. Introduced in 2012 through Amendment 20 to the …

Debevoise & Plimpton Reviews 2024 Proxy Season

By Eric T. Juergens, Maeve O'Connor, Benjamin R. Pedersen, William D. Regner and Amy Pereira October 1, 2024 by renholding

The 2024 proxy season was characterized by a high volume of shareholder proposals submitted to companies, including proposals relating to topical issues such as artificial intelligence (“AI”) and political lobbying and spending. In addition, the number of no-action requests submitted …

How Market Feedback Affects CEO Pay

By C.S. Agnes Cheng, Iftekhar Hasan, Feng Tang and Jing Xie December 13, 2022 by renholding

Stock prices affect various corporate decisions such as the amount of CEO compensation, as emphasized in traditional pay-for-performance studies, and capital investment. However, an unanswered question is whether changes in firms’ stock price in a short window around events related …

Does the Adoption of Say-on-Pay Laws Affect Firms’ ESG Performance?

By Andrea Pawliczek, Mary Ellen Carter and Rong (Irene) Zhong July 7, 2022 by renholding

Can investors successfully advocate for improved ESG outcomes at their portfolio companies? We examine whether the introduction of say-on-pay (SOP) laws provides investors with a way to increase the extent to which executive compensation is tied to ESG metrics and …

ISS Discusses Growing Disapproval of CEO Pay Proposals

By Brian Johnson May 31, 2022 by renholding

For many companies, 2021 signaled a return to normal business after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the economy and significantly disrupted financial forecasts established at the beginning of 2020. Given the difficulty in meeting financial targets set under short- and long-term

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Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses SEC Proposal to Enhance Proxy Voting Disclosure by Investment Funds

By Donald R. Crawshaw, Eric M. Diamond, Joseph A. Hearn, Sarah P. Payne and Marc Trevino October 11, 2021 by benzonenshayn

On September 29, 2021, the SEC issued a proposed rulemaking to enhance the information mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other registered management investment companies (“funds”) report annually about their proxy votes. The proposal also would require so-called “institutional investment managers” …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Proposal to Enhance Proxy Voting Disclosure

By Gary Gensler September 30, 2021 by renholding

Good morning. This is an open meeting of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 29, 2021. I want to welcome members of the public who are listening in.

This is my first open meeting as Chair of this

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Executive Compensation: The Trend Toward One Size Fits All

By Felipe Cabezon January 4, 2021 by renholding

In a new paper, I document a recent and strong standardization in the structure of executive compensation. This standardization is unexpected since, in principle, the optimal incentive contract is a function of many factors that vary among firms. Executives receive …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses Executive Compensation Considerations – Looking Ahead and Staying Nimble

By Jeannemarie O'Brien and Adam J. Shapiro August 25, 2020 by renholding

Unpredictability has dominated the economic climate over the last six months and likely will continue in the months ahead. Companies that swiftly and thoughtfully assess and respond to evolving challenges will most effectively manage through the pandemic. This theme applies …

Cahill Gordon Discusses Glass Lewis and ISS 2020 Voting Guidelines

By Helene R. Banks, Geoffrey E. Liebmann, Ross Sturman, Joseph E. Cho and Tina M. Davis December 10, 2019 by renholding

Both Glass, Lewis & Co. (“Glass Lewis”) and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), the leading providers of corporate governance and proxy advisory services, have now published their 2020 proxy voting guidelines. The Glass Lewis guidelines[1] will take effect for …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses 2020 Voting Policies from ISS and Glass Lewis

By Andrew R. Brownstein, Sabastian V. Niles, Andrea K. Wahlquist and Carmen X.W. Lu November 15, 2019 by renholding

Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recently announced updates to their U.S. proxy voting policies for the 2020 proxy season. ISS’s new policies will apply to shareholder meetings held on or after February 1, 2020 and …

Nuveen Offers 2019 Proxy Season in Review

By Peter Reali and Anthony Garcia September 9, 2019 by renholding

The 2019 proxy season was marked by an increased willingness among shareholders to hold boards accountable on director elections, say- on-pay, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) shareholder proposals. For example, almost 5 percent of directors received less than 80 …

ISS Offers Early Take on 2019 U.S. Proxy Season Vote Results

By Kosmas Papadopoulos June 13, 2019 by renholding

As the busiest part of the 2019 U.S. proxy season is behind us, we take an early look at the vote results of annual general meetings convened from January to May. As of now, approximately 70 percent of Russell 3000 …

Vanguard Talks New Proxy Voting Guidelines With PJT Camberview

By PJT Camberview May 2, 2019 by renholding

Vanguard recently made three significant announcements, including an update to its proxy voting guidelines, changes to proxy voting responsibilities for its external managers and a commentary on its views and approach to corporate governance and sustainable investing.

On Friday, April

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ISS Offers Insights into How Much CEOs Are Really Paid

By Kosmas Papadopoulos and John Roe April 30, 2019 by renholding

How much compensation does a CEO really end up with? It’s a tough question to answer – the summary compensation table is often cited as what the CEO is paid, but the ultimate value that an executive realized from those …

ISS Discusses Role of Shareholder Proposals in Shaping U.S. Governance Practices

By Kosmas Papadopoulos February 15, 2019 by renholding

Over the past three decades, shareholder proposals have transformed the corporate landscape in the U.S. by spurring the adoption of governance best practices. Annual director elections, majority vote rules for director elections, shareholder approval for poison pills, and proxy access …

Davis Polk and Semler Brossy Offer an Update on Say-on-Pay

By Kyoko Takahashi Lin, Ning Chiu, Alicyn Gilbert, Blair Jones and Kathryn Neel December 5, 2018 by renholding

The proxy season is just around the corner for calendar year public companies, and, ahead of the season, two major proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, recently released their 2019 policy updates. ISS’s 2019 policy updates…

The Transatlantic Debate over Shareholder Rights

By Maria Lucia Passador November 9, 2018 by renholding

Effective and sustainable shareholder engagement is a cornerstone of the corporate governance model of listed companies, which is based on a system of checks and balances among boards, management, and stakeholders. Enhancing the involvement of shareholders in corporate governance is …

Shareholder Activism Through Say-on-Pay

By Konstantinos Stathopoulos and Georgios Voulgaris October 30, 2018 by renholding

Shareholder activism around the world has increased substantially over the last few years (see here and here for recent examples). Empowered shareholders seek to discipline management and voice their dissatisfaction with specific corporate decisions. A particular source of tension between …

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