Heads-Up for the 2021 Proxy Season: ISS Issues Policy Updates – New and Revised Policies Focus on Racial/Ethnic Board Diversity, ESG Risk Oversight, Board Refreshment and Exclusive Forum Provisions
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has issued its proxy voting policy updates for shareholder meetings to be held on or after February 1, 2021. The key policy updates focus on board composition, including racial and ethnic diversity, board oversight responsibilities relating to ESG, and exclusive forum provisions. ISS also clarified that its COVID-19 guidance, will continue to apply in 2021, updated as needed.
In this Alert, we summarize this year’s ISS voting policy updates and provide practical tips on “What to do Now?” We also provide our annual update of the range of circumstances in which ISS may issue a negative recommendation against individual directors, committee members, or the entire board.
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