Glass Lewis Updates Its 2020 Proxy Voting Guidelines

Glass Lewis recently released its 2020 proxy voting guidelines and shareholder initiatives.¹ The following is a summary of Glass Lewis' proposed changes and updates for 2020. Most significantly, the updated guidelines reflect a response to the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement that it may decline to take a view or may respond orally to no-action requests for shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act.² Starting in 2020, Glass Lewis generally will recommend a vote against members of a company's governance committee if a company omits a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement without evidence of receiving no-action relief from the SEC, as described in more detail below.