In Focus
CII Board Appoints Glenn Davis as Executive Director
CII’s board announced September 2 that Glenn Davis, previously serving as interim executive director, was appointed executive director. Davis brings more than 25 years of experience in investor protection, corporate governance, and proxy voting matters. He served for eight years as CII’s research director, working with CII’s board to develop member-approved recommendations on corporate disclosure and governance practices. He was named deputy director in 2020. His career began at the Investor Responsibility Research Center. Currently, he serves on the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council, the Best Practice Principles Oversight Committee and the Broadridge Independent Steering Committee.
Registration is now open for the Corporate Governance Bootcamp, presented by CII and NYU School of Law’s Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance
Join us November 12–13 at NYU for two days of expert-led instruction on corporate governance, proxy voting, and shareholder engagement. Learn from leading academics, regulators, directors, investors, and practitioners. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. More information and online registration can be found
here.
Amid Historic SEC Move, CII Defends Shareholder Voice in Capital Markets
The SEC’s
announcement August 14 that it would no longer weigh in on no-action requests from companies “marks a setback for shareholder voice as a contributor to long-term company performance,” said CII Interim Executive Director Glenn Davis in a
statement on LinkedIn. He pointed out that the no-action process, which has been in place for decades, mitigated litigation risk, provided a degree of predictability and afforded room for novel topics to see the light of day.
CII Urges SEC Not to Approve TXSE’s Plans to Require Brokers to Vote Uninstructed Shares
CII sent a
letter August 13 opposing the Texas Stock Exchange’s (TXSE)
plans to amend its rules to require brokers to vote uninstructed shares held on behalf of beneficial owners of TXSE-listed companies. Under the proposal, brokers would allocate votes on each resolution in proportion to the instructions received from shareholders who already voted their shares. The SEC is reviewing the proposal and must make a decision on whether to approve it, reject it, or institute a proceeding to determine whether it should be disproved by September 9. CII opposes the proposed amendments because they can substantially increase the voting weight of active shareholders, especially where participation rates are low. In addition, at companies with dual-class share structures, they would give those with outsized voting power even more, making it more difficult for minority investors to exercise influence.