CII and Railpen announced June 13 the launch of the Investor Coalition for Equal Votes (ICEV) a new collective investor initiative to push back against unequal voting rights at portfolio companies.

The power wielded by the largest index funds through proxy voting was a hot topic this week as BlackRock announced the day before a Senate hearing on pass-through voting that it is expanding its Voting Choice program, which provides this voting option to 40% of the asset manager’s clients.

The SEC is asking the public to provide comments and information about whether index providers, model portfolio providers, and pricing services are, in certain circumstances, acting as “investment advisors” under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.

Comment Period for Proposed Clawback Rule Reopened, Senate Confirms Uyeda and Lizarraga as SEC Commissioners

The European Commission and the Council on the Directive June 7 announced a directive under which large companies operating in the EU would have to ensure that 40% of non-executive director seats or 33% of all director seats are held by the “underrepresented sex” - usually women.