Investors, Companies and Corporate Governance Organizations Invited to Participate in ISS‘ Annual Policy Formulation Process
Rockville, MD (August 4, 2015) – Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a leading provider of proxy advisory and corporate governance solutions to financial market participants, today kicked off its annual global policy formulation process by inviting institutional investors, corporate issuers, corporate directors and other market constituents to participate in its 2016 proxy voting policy survey. The survey will close on Sept. 4 at 5pm ET.
This year the survey will cover a number of key issues for consideration as part of the policy updates for 2016, including the use of equity compensation for non-executive directors, proxy access in the U.S., overboarding for directors and CEOs, and the role of share buybacks in the effective allocation of capital.
“As we explore some timely and significant issues that may affect financial market participants in the months ahead, we look forward to hearing from market participants globally as we shape our policies that will serve the voting needs of many our institutional clients worldwide,” said Georgina Marshall, ISS’ newly appointed Global Head of Research.
In addition to this global survey, ISS will conduct a variety of regionally-based, topic-specific roundtables and conference calls to examine local market best practices and gather input that will factor into the development of ISS’ benchmark policy guidelines globally.
After analysis and consideration of the survey responses, ISS will later open a comment period for all interested market participants on the final proposed changes to our policies for 2016. The open comment period is designed to elicit objective, specific feedback from investors, corporations and other industry constituents on the practical implementation of proposed policy updates as well as new policies.
“ISS maintains a strong commitment to inclusivity and transparency and we will continue to raise the bar on engagement with governance stakeholders,” said ISS President & CEO Gary Retelny.
The 2016 ISS policy survey can be accessed here while a timeline detailing significant milestones in this year’s policy formulation process can be found here.
