News Centre

Improving The Shareholder Proposal Process: Statement On Proposed Amendments To Rule 14a-8, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, July 13, 2022

Date 13/07/2022

Shareholder proposals represent a key mechanism for shareholders to engage with management, put issues of importance on the proxy ballot, and generally enhance oversight and accountability. Through this process, shareholders have introduced significant improvements in corporate governance including majority vote rules for the election of directors, elimination of staggered board terms, limits on poison pills that serve to entrench management, and requirements for independent board chairs. Indeed shareholder proposals have often been a catalyst for pivotal corporate governance reforms. And shareholder-proponents have been early and leading voices – bellwethers for management – on significant issues such as climate risk, workforce diversity, and political spending disclosure.

FINRA Bars Two Individuals For Cheating On Online Qualification Exams - Regulator’s First Enforcement Actions For Online Cheating

Date 13/07/2022

FINRA announced today that it has barred Brandon Autiero of New Jersey and Harris Kausar of New York from the securities industry for cheating during qualification examinations administered online. The enforcement actions are FINRA’s first in connection with cheating on remote exams.

Statement On Proposed Amendments To Rule 14a-8, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, July 13, 2022

Date 13/07/2022

Today, the Commission will consider proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8 that would provide greater certainty as to the circumstances in which companies are able to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy statements. I am pleased to support the proposed amendments because, if adopted, they would improve the shareholder proposal process.

Protecting The Independence Of The Proxy Voting Process: Statement On Amendments Governing Proxy Voting Advice, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, July 13, 2022

Date 13/07/2022

The free and fair exercise of shareholder voting rights is essential to a well-functioning system of corporate democracy, one that helps ensure that shareholders can exercise appropriate oversight of the companies they own. As shareholders increasingly vote through institutional asset managers, proxy advisors play a unique and important role in informing that process and enabling shareholders to protect their interests and their capital.  

ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator: June 2022

Date 13/07/2022

The ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator increased to an all-time high of 46.4% in June 2022 compared to 46.0% the prior month. The indicator tracks how much global trading activity (as measured by DV01) is conducted in cleared over-the-counter and exchange-traded interest rate derivatives (IRD) that reference the identified risk-free rates (RFRs) in six major currencies. On a traded notional basis, the percentage of RFR-linked IRD comprised 39.8% of total IRD in June compared to 38.6% the prior month.

Statement On Adoption Of Amendments To The Rules Governing Proxy Voting Advice, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, July 13, 2022

Date 13/07/2022

Today, the Commission will consider adopting amendments to the rules governing proxy voting advice. I am pleased to support these amendments because they address issues concerning the timeliness and independence of proxy voting advice, which would help to protect investors and facilitate shareholder democracy.

Statement Of CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham On The CPMI-IOSCO Final Guidance On Stablecoin Arrangements

Date 13/07/2022

CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham made the following statement today regarding international efforts to set standards for the regulation of stablecoins:

“Technological change has continued to transform markets, with the rise of digital assets and innovations such as stablecoin arrangements to provide transfer functions.  Today, the Bank of International Settlements' (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued the report Application of the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures to stablecoin arrangements.

SEC Adopts Amendments To Proxy Rules Governing Proxy Voting Advice - Amendments Address Concerns By Investors And Others Regarding Rules That May Impair The Timeliness And Independence Of Proxy Voting Advice

Date 13/07/2022

The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to adopt amendments to its rules governing proxy voting advice as proposed in November 2021. The final amendments aim to avoid burdens on proxy voting advice businesses that may impair the timeliness and independence of their advice. The amendments also address misperceptions about liability standards applicable to proxy voting advice while also preserving investors’ confidence in the integrity of such advice.

BIS - Bank Of Japan's ETF Purchase Program And Equity Risk Premium: A CAPM Interpretation

Date 13/07/2022

Summary

Focus

We study the effects of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) exchange-traded fund (ETF) purchase programme on equity risk premia. Constructing a unique panel data set of the amount of individual stocks that the BOJ has indirectly purchased in the programme, we see significant cross-sectional and time series variations among individual stocks due to their different weights in ETFs and the BOJ's policy changes on its share of purchases across ETFs. Using these cross-sectional and time series variations, we study whether the ETF programme changed the risk premia of Japanese stocks based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model.

CFTC: Commissioner Pham And Commissioner Mersinger To Participate In A DC Bar Fireside Chat

Date 13/07/2022

WHAT:

Commissioner Caroline D. Pham and Commissioner Summer Mersinger will participate in a fireside chat at the DC Bar Derivatives and Futures Law Committee

WHEN:

Tuesday, July 19, 2022
12:00 p.m. (EDT)

WHERE:

Virtual Event.

More information here: DC Bar | Event