The 2015 annual meeting season was a whirlwind, driven by surprise voting outcomes and regulatory flip-flops on proxy access. But 2016 could well be tougher, because presidential politics promises to turbocharge the corporate governance debate.
Candidates and influence groups are already using corporate governance issues to make public policy points on matter such as income inequality, American competitiveness, drug pricing, and climate change. If you doubt that politics can make that much of a difference, consider the building furor around stock buybacks and the unfolding nightmare that is Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
