U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has had a very active regulatory agenda that has invited a lot of controversy due to both its ambitious scope and the speed of implementation. While there are numerous issues that are planned to be raised or addressed, many can be loosely grouped into several thematic buckets (e.g., environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues).
One such bucket on which the SEC has placed particular emphasis recently is investor protection, reports K&L Gates, writing for JD Supra. SEC concerns regarding investor protection issues have come in many forms under Chair Gensler: digital assets, payment for order flow and SPACs. Most recently, it came in the form of shareholder voting rule changes.
In July the SEC voted 3–2, along party lines, to adopt amendments to the proxy rules governing proxy voting advice that the SEC adopted in 2020. The final rule adopting the amendments (Final Rule) is available here. The SEC also published a corresponding Fact Sheet, which is available here. Read more.
