On July 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission met and adopted final rules, Exemptions from the Proxy Rules for Proxy Voting Advice, SEC. Rel. 34-89732, in a 3-1 vote. These final rules will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Of course, that presumes that a lawsuit isn’t filed against the SEC and these final rules by an interested party (such as ISS which filed such a lawsuit with the SEC’s earlier guidance affecting proxy voting advisory firms).
The final rules codify the SEC’s view that proxy voting advice generally constitutes a solicitation under the proxy rules. The SEC Press Release clarifies that the availability of two exemptions often used by proxy voting advice businesses to the proxy rules depends on compliance with tailored and comprehensive conflicts of interest disclosure requirements. The exemptions also require compliance with two principles-based requirements designed to ensure that:
(1) companies that are the subject of proxy voting advice have such advice made available to them in a timely manner, and
(2) clients of proxy voting advice businesses are provided with an efficient and timely means of becoming aware of any written responses by companies to such proxy voting advice.