Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services will be updating its methodologies used when issuing recommendations on companies’ proposals beginning Feb. 1, 2012. Companies whose proxy meetings will take place on or after that date should pay attention to these changes in the ISS assessment.
Not surprisingly, the first change presented by the experts at ISS during a Wednesday Webinar was on the management say-on-pay proposal (MSOP). In 2012, ISS will focus their assessment on MSOP issues based on compensation committee members’ responsiveness to issues raised by shareholders instead of scrutinizing board actions as it has done in the past. The proxy firm said it will also highlight the type of disclosures that shareholders will examine to determine if a company has sufficiently addressed shareholders’ prior-year concerns.
