Liz Walsh

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In November 2025, ISS Governance (“ISS”) announced its global Benchmark Proxy Voting Guidelines for shareholder meetings with dates on or after February 1, 2026.  Consistent with prior years, the 2026 updates were derived from extensive outreach to institutional investors, companies and other affiliated organizations.  According to ISS, its proxy voting guidelines “are guided by the…

Webinar | December 10, 2025
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST
Register here.

The proxy and annual reporting season may seem a long way off. However, in light of the amount of work and planning that goes into the proxy statement, annual report, and annual meeting of shareholders, this is the ideal time to…

Although it may seem early, it is already time to start preparing for the 2026 annual report and proxy season.  While many disclosure requirements remain consistent from prior years, there has been a significant shift in the focus of, and discourse relating to, the priorities of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Practitioners started to see…

On November 17, 2025, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance published a new statement (the “Statement”) regarding the review of requests to exclude shareholder proposals by both the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Investment Management (together, the “Divisions”) during the 2026 proxy season (including…

10-K and Disclosure TrendsProxy Statement and Annual Meeting Preparation
Webinar | November 10, 2025
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Register here.

The proxy and annual reporting season may seem a long way off. However, in light of the amount of work and planning that goes into the proxy statement, annual report, and
…

In the keynote address at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance’s 25th Anniversary Gala, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Chair Paul Atkins noted that the number of exchange-listed companies has declined in recent years and outlined a three-part agenda aimed at making the US public markets more attractive to companies, including (1) simplifying…

On September 17, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) held an open meeting to discuss several items, including (i) permitting the acceleration of effectiveness of registration statements of issuers with certain mandatory arbitration provisions and (ii) amending the Commission’s Rules of Practice relating to the Commission’s review of staff declarations of effectiveness of…

In March 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) adopted rules entitled The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (the “Rules”), intended to standardize how public companies report material climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the Rules were almost immediately the subject of litigation, which was subsequently consolidated in…

On July 11, 2025, the staff (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) published non-substantive updates to various Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“CDIs”) relating to Exchange Act Sections 13(d) and 13(g) and Regulation 13D-G Beneficial Ownership Reporting. 

The updates bring the CDIs into alignment with…

Companies and investors use information related to environmental, social or governance (“ESG”) factors to provide a company-wide view of sustainability and other priorities.  This includes how the company discloses, reacts to and manages ESG-related risks and policies, such as, for example, risks related to carbon emissions, as well as policies addressing diversity, shareholder rights and…