ProxyExchange FAQ

1. When will ISS ProxyExchange™ launch?
A: ProxyExchange launched on January 4, 2010
2. Do you have a demonstration available?
A: Yes. Please reach out to your account manager or view the Proxy Exchange tour here.
3. Can I see my data in ProxyExchange before it goes live?
A: Yes, you will have the opportunity to review your account, meetings, and ballot information through December 5, 2009, as well as platform functionality.
4. What tasks do I need to do before ProxyExchange goes live?
A: In most cases, a number of the items on the checklist will be migrated automatically for clients and there are no additional tasks for you to complete. In those cases where there are additional steps, your account manager will contact you to walkthrough your checklist of items. As always, please feel free to reach out to your account manager to discuss your personal needs pertaining to launch.
5. Will there be other releases after launch?
A: Yes. We will continue to update ProxyExchange on a regular basis, as we do with all RiskMetrics products and services, to ensure the applications run smoothly and efficiently.
6. What is the support structure the week after launch?
A: Your dedicated Account Manager remains your primary point of support following the release on January 4th.
7. Will ISS continue its SAS70 Type II audit?
A:
- Yes. ISS has robust and scalable processes to manage the operations and administration of the Governance Infrastructure. The operations teams are currently under a SAS70 audit for 2009 and will conduct a 2010 SAS70 Type II audit for 2010. We have exception free SAS70 Type II audits for 2007 and for 2008 as well.
- The Governance services division has been under a continuous SAS70 Type II audit since 2007 and received exception free reports in both 2007 and 2008. We are currently under review for the 2009 period and will hope to have results of that audit in several months. The period for 2009 will run from 1/1/2009 to 10/15/2009 and our 2010 SAS70 audit will begin again in Early 2010. Historically we have run contracts with our SAS70 auditors for a period of three years and as part of our business practice, evaluate our auditors at the end of that three year contract.
  
  We are currently going through that review and will be using the end of 2009 to select our auditors and review our report to ensure that we are still meeting our necessary audit responsibilities. We will also be using this period to evaluate the new ProxyExchange system and the assertions under the new system with the auditor for the 2010 period. The core businesses covered under our current SAS70 Type II report are:
  - i. Voting Agent
  - ii. Global Proxy Distribution
  - iii. Research
  For the period of 2010 we will be covering those businesses again, as well as our Securities Class Action business. We remain committed to this process and will continue to conduct these audits in the foreseeable future.
8. I have colleagues in international offices who must be trained, how do I manage that?
A: Your dedicated, ISS Account Manager is responsible for all ProxyExchange related training. If you have a team located internationally and they do not have a local ISS Account Manager, but have unique training needs, such as training in a local language, please notify your company’s primary Account Manager to make necessary arrangements.
9. Is there still time for me to participate in a preview period?
A: The preview period was open from July through the end of October 2009. However, ProxyExchange will be open for clients to review functionality and their account data Through January 4th in the new system.
10. What are the key benefits of ProxyExchange?
A:
- a. Content
  - i. Key decisions screens contain rich contextual information
  - ii. Aggregate views combined with an inductive user interface to provide simple navigation pathways to manage by exception
- b. Transparency
  - i. End to end visibility into all actions and artifacts in the system
  - ii. Full ballot life cycle: New > Instruct > Approve > Submit > Confirm
  - iii. Full account life cycle: New > LOA > Cust Letter > Holdings > Ballots
- c. Custom fit
  - i. Customizable research, instruction and approval workflow for ballots to fit into internal client processes for proxy committee and globally distributed workflow processes
  - iii. Open extensible reporting to support scheduled and one-time reporting needs
- d. Timeliness
  - i. Real time ballot generation
  - ii. Extensive rules to automate the instruction and approval of routine meetings and proposals
  - iii. Extensible alert framework for pro-active handling of time critical issues
  - iv. Custom watch lists to effectively manage and track key issues like conflict of interest meetings, index securities, share blocking markets etc.
- e. Accuracy
  - i. Domain driven data architecture with a single System of Record (SOR)
  - ii. Smart cross validation techniques to detect and resolve exceptions
  - iii. Collaborative template driven resolution of account set up, ballot routing and reconciliation issues
- f. Audit
  - i. Continuous audit of key transactions along multiple dimensions - detection of break in current season or historical patterns
  - ii. Comprehensive trail of all changes in the system
11. Why did you decide to invest in this new platform?
A: ProxyExchange represents the culmination of 2 years of collaboration between our voting technology team and clients to build a voting system that meets the investor demand for simplicity and streamlined processes while introducing sophisticated new capabilities.

It incorporates deep domain knowledge and sound technical principles to create a state of the art platform that will significantly enhance the way clients interact with the platform as well as the way we serve our clients to meet their proxy voting needs.
12. What are the plans for disaster recovery the day of / immediately after launch? Can we see them?
A: By the time Proxy Exchange front end goes live, it will have been tested by 850 clients and 5000 users apart from the 90+ person months of testing and certification by internal QA and business teams. As with any large scale implementation plan, RiskMetrics recognizes the need to plan for contingencies. In the event of a failure to successfully deploy and go live on ProxyExchange, contingency plans will be in place to ensure that the systems and processes are rolled back to their original state. The parallel production infrastructure minimizes the risks in this rollback plan. Please contact your account manager for further details.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us at marketing@riskmetrics.com. We will continue to update this site regularly, with further questions.

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