Morrow Sodali reported on Nasdaq's recent letter to the SEC in response to its ongoing solicitation of input on proxy process enhancements in connection with its November 2018 roundtable. The letter, which was signed by more than 300 public companies and other organizations, calls on the SEC to act on proxy advisor conflicts of interest, accuracy, and transparency; increase the shareholder proposal resubmission thresholds; streamline shareholder communications to enable companies to directly and cost-effectively communicate with their shareholders; and update the proxy voting process to make voting more transparent and verifiable, and to increase retail investor participation.
As previously reported, SEC Commissioner Roisman is taking the lead on the SEC's behalf on the proxy plumbing-related reforms.