The Conference Board: Highlights of the 2018 Proxy Season

On July 10, 2018, The Conference Board and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP hosted a panel discussion on the highlights of the 2018 proxy season and the key topics, including shareholder proposals trends, including with respect to environmental and social issues; the most surprising moments in the 2018 proxy season; the effect of the SEC’s release of Staff Legal Bulletin 14I; board composition, refreshment and diversity; shareholder engagement; and significant institutional investor developments.

Participants in the panel discussion included Pamela Marcogliese, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb, Elizabeth Bieber, Associate, Cleary Gottlieb, Jason Alexander, Managing Director, Okapi Partners and Bill Ultan, Managing Director, Corporate Governance, Morrow Sodali.

Moderator Doug Chia, executive director of The Conference Board, and the panelists discussed the shareholder proposals received for the 2018 proxy season and how, again this year, environmental and social proposals outnumbered governance proposals.  The panel explored the link between social trends like climate change and #MeToo and the types of shareholder proposals companies received in 2018, such as proposals requesting reports on environmental matters and proposals on gender pay equity.

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