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Going Beyond: Policy Updates

ISS Suspends Consideration of Board Diversity Factors in U.S. Voting

By Shirley Westcott

In a surprise update, proxy advisor Services (ISS) announced on Feb. 11 that it is halting consideration of gender and racial/ethnic diversity factors when making voting recommendations with respect to board diversity at U.S. companies.  The change will apply to ISS’s benchmark and specialty policies and will take effect for shareholder meeting reports published on or after Feb. 25.

Under its current benchmark policy, ISS will generally oppose the nominating committee chair if there are no women on the board and, in the case of S&P 1500 and Russell 3000 firms, if there are no racially or ethnically diverse directors.

ISS attributed the change to increased scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the U.S., including President Trump’s recent executive order on DEI.

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See ISS’s press release

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Article by

  • Shirley Westcott
    Senior Vice President

    Shirley is Senior Vice President in the Proxy Solicitation Group at ³ÉÈËÊÓÆµ since 2011 where she advises public companies on their corporate governance practices and issues of concern to shareholders.

    View all posts
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