Insights
Governance, Shareholder Engagement & Proxy Advisors
Final ISS Compensation Benchmark Policy Changes for 2026
By David Yang, Emilia McDougal
On November 25, ISS released final benchmark policy updates for 2026. The compensation-related U.S. policy changes are effective for meetings on or after February 1, 2026…
Proposed ISS Benchmark Policy Changes for 2026
By David Yang, Emilia McDougal
On October 30, ISS released proposed 2026 benchmark policy updates for public comment…
5 Tips for an Effective Compensation Committee Meeting
By Lauren Spencer, Jin Fu
Compensation committee meetings are a crucial element of running executive pay programs. Here, FW Cook shares five tips for nailing these meetings….
Glass Lewis Pay-for-Performance Methodology Update for 2026
By David Yang
Glass Lewis (“GL”) recently announced major updates to its pay-for-performance (“P4P”) model for the 2026 proxy season. The P4P model serves as the foundation for GL’s evaluation of a company’s executive pay practices to inform its say-on-pay vote recommendation…
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Its Impact on IRC Section 4960: What Tax-Exempt Organizations Need to Know
By Elaine Yim
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025, introducing extensive changes to the U.S. tax code. Among the changes that are consequential for tax-exempt organizations include…
Texas Enacts New Law Regulating Proxy Advisory Firms Advising Shareholders of Texas Companies
On June 20, 2025, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Texas Senate Bill (S.B.) 2337 “Relating to the regulation of the provision of proxy advisory services” that imposes new rules on proxy advisors, such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis…
Crypto Treasury Execs May Cash In as Stocks Soar, But Will Shareholders Be Cheated?
By Metin Aksoy
Crypto treasury companies are seeing their stocks skyrocket upon launch. One such company believes execs shouldn’t be rewarded for that.
Evolving Shareholder Engagement Landscape and Bespoke Compensation Design
By Daniel Ryterband, Serdar Sikca
In 2023, at what appeared to be the pinnacle of the ongoing struggle for companies to use customized compensation systems to drive strategy without incurring the wrath of the proxy advisory firms and governance community, I wrote about Bespoke vs. Homogenous Compensation Systems…
A Playbook for Proxy Pushback
Article | Corporate Board Member with FW Cook Thought Leadership by Serdar Sikca, Kenneth Sparling
Facing a challenged executive pay vote? Here’s how your board should approach shareholder engagement.
ISS Announces 2025 Policy Updates and Releases New FAQs
On December 17, 2024, ISS published an executive summary of its proxy voting policy updates for annual shareholder meetings held on or after February 1, 2025. Executive summaries of the policy updates for US companies can be found here and here with the full updated 2025 proxy voting guideline expected to…
Glass Lewis Publishes 2025 Policy Updates
On November 14, Glass Lewis (“GL”) released its policy updates for annual shareholder meetings held after January 1, 2025. Updates and clarifications to the United States policy guidelines that impact GL’s evaluation of proposals related to Say-on-Pay, re-election of Compensation Committee members…
Clawback Policies: Beyond Compliance
Article | Corporate Board Member with FW Cook Thought Leadership by Erin Bass-Goldberg, Matt Lum
Already prevalent among large companies, robust clawback provisions can be part of a holistic approach to holding executives accountable.
