The U.S. proxy season is taking place amidst regulatory changes that look set to empower related parties and curtail shareholder proposals, along with confusion over recent executive action on diversity.
Most recent majority-supported shareholder proposals have covered the elimination of supermajority voting requirements. Investor concern levels remain high — putting many companies in a difficult position, since supermajority approval is often required for them to remove these provisions.
On the compensation front, competition for talent has put recruitment, retention and executive perquisites in the spotlight. Succession planning is an area where shareholders are looking for boards to preemptively mitigate potential costs, to avoid the need for external hires and the make-whole awards that often come with them.
