The drafting and release of the Principles has attracted global interest. The following links are a selection of the coverage received. If you are a member of the press with a question about the Principles please contact committee (at) bppgrp (dot) info
Press Releases
| November 2024: |
BPPG signatories continue to improve best practice principle disclosures |
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| October 2023: |
Proxy voting advisory firms continue to improve best practice principle disclosures |
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| September 2022: | BPP independent Oversight Committee launches 2022 Annual Report | Download |
| July 2021: | BPP independent Oversight Committee launches first Annual Report | Download |
| July 2019: | BPP Group launches new 2019 Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research Analysis | Download |
| July 2019: | Report of Independent Review Chair | Download |
| October 2018: | Appointment of New Independent Review Chair | Download |
| April 2017: | Appointment of Review Chairman | Download |
| February 2015: | Feedback & Reporting Procedures | Download |
| May 2014: | Report of Chairman | Download |
| May 2014: | Position Paper – Shareholder Rights Directive Update | Download |
| March 2014: | Final Release of Principles | Download |
| October 2013: | Consultation Announcement | Download |
Coverage
Karma
August 2020 | Vanguard Says SEC Guidance Won’t Change Its Operations
SEC is asking asset managers to disclose to investor clients how they evaluate guidance from proxy advisor firms.
Some asset managers, including Vanguard, say their operations are not affected by new Securities and Exchange Commission guidance…
Proxy advisors have argued they have an umbrella organization called Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research Providers that already enforces operational standards for the sector.
Financial Times
July 2019|Proxy advisers sign up to tougher scrutiny
Big proxy advisers in Europe have agreed to greater independent scrutiny as the sector scrambles to respond to allegations that it wields too much power.
…This week, Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis and three other companies agreed to a series of updated principles, as well as supervision from an independent committee set up to oversee businesses involved in shareholder voting.
Responsible Investor (£)
July 2019 | Proxy firms group renew self-regulated code of conduct with investor input
A reviewed version of the so-called Best Practice Principles (BPP) for Shareholder Voting Research Providers has been published after a two-year consultation period by the group of five firms that sponsor them link.
IPE
July 2019 |Proxy adviser group revises best practice principles
Leading proxy advisory firms in the EU have committed to a new governance and oversight structure in updated best practice principles, in a bid to address a mix of issuer and investor concerns, regulatory developments, and “continued market misperceptions”.
The 2019 principles, formally launched today, were the culmination of a two-year independent review process…
L’AGEFI Quotidien
Leur association, le BPPG, a annoncé une révision des principes de ses membres signataires fondateurs après deux années de réflexion et de critiques.
July 2019 | Les agences de conseil en vote plient sous la pression
Global Proxy Watch ($)
July 2019 |Be Advised News on proxy advisors
Compliance with the voluntary code of conduct advisor firms created will be monitored by a new oversight committee of issuers, investors and experts under updated principles published Monday by the Best Practice Principles Group (BPPG). The as yet unnamed committee, suggested by the review to ensure the code’s conformity with the EU Shareholder Rights Directive, will be empowered to boot noncompliant advisors out of the BPPG (GPW XXIII-15).
The new approach is unlikely to dent the US business lobby campaign against advisors’ “undue influence” on investor votes against management, which has ignored the BPPG. So have SEC chair Jay Clayton and other agency officials, who again expressed support for advisor regulation at a July 16 US Chamber of Commerce event.
Les Echos
July 2019 | AG : Les agences de conseil en vote se placent sous l’autorité d’un comité de supervision indépendant
ISS, Glass Lewis, ou encore le français Proxinvest ont décidé de modifier leur code de bonne conduite et de se soumettre à des normes plus strictes pour une plus grande transparence. Ils devront rendre des comptes à un comité indépendant.
Les agences de conseil en vote, ou « proxy advisors » en anglais, sont devenues en quelques années les bêtes noires des sociétés cotées car elles ont un oeil critique sur la gouvernance d’entreprise…
Corporate Law and Governance Blogspot |Robert Goddard
July 2019 | New edition of The Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research and Analysis
The new edition of The Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research and Analysis was published yesterday by the Best Practice Principles Group: see here (pdf). Further information about the new edition, the changes made and the rationale for each of the principles can be found in the accompanying report: see here (pdf).
Corporate Secretary
July 2019 | Proxy advisers agree to new standards
Major firms sign up to revised principles and oversight committee
Leading proxy advisers have agreed to a series of updated principles and oversight from a new committee.
Glass Lewis CEO KT Rabin tells Corporate Secretary sister publication IR Magazine: ‘As a founding signatory to the Best Practice Principles [BPP] for Shareholder Voting Research and Analysis Group [BPP Group], launched in 2014, Glass Lewis is pleased to confirm that the revised BPP was updated on Monday, July 22.’
The BPP Group was set up to promote a better understanding of proxy advisers. Its committee comprises representatives from Glass Lewis, ISS, Minerva Analytics, PIRC and Proxinvest.
Activist Insight Shorts
July 2019 | Activist insight short
The longstanding adversarial approach to proxy adviser regulation in the U.S. has so far produced little if any tangible benefit for either investors or corporations, despite promises to act by the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late last year. And while one newspaper announced this week that (outgoing) commissioner Robert Jackson Jr was increasingly supportive of regulation, the scope of that agreement looks limited. Europe, by contrast, has been more successful at updating regulation. This week, an update to the “Best Practice Principles for Providers of Shareholder Voting Research & Analysis” was published. Granted, the principle-based approach is a hopeless misfit with the U.S. regulatory system. But the process was, by all accounts, less symbolic and more productive than the proxy war in which the SEC has been rather a pawn. Serious attempts at reform could do worse than emulating some of its approaches.
Thomson-Reuters Practical Law Corporate (£)
April 2017 | Review of the best practice principles
The Best Practice Principles Group for Shareholder Voting Research has announced a review of its best practice principles for shareholder voting research and analysis.
Global Proxy Watch ($)
April 2017 | Advisors Revise
The Best Practice Principles Group of five proxy advisors said today it will open an independent review of the principles launched in 2014 to assess their implementation and address requirements in the European Union Shareholder Rights Directive ratified earlier this month (GPW XX-31). The review will be chaired by former UK Financial Reporting Council staff governance head Chris Hodge.
Responsible Investor (£)
April 2017 | Chris Hodge to steer review
“Corporate governance expert Chris Hodge – who was instrumental in the creation of the world’s first Stewardship Code while he was at the UK’s Financial Reporting Council – is in charge of reviewing the European proxy industry’s best practice code”
Wedlake Bell Legal Knowledge Portal
July 2014 | The proxy advisory industry takes a big step forward
“We are both hopeful and confident that the application of these Research Provider Principles will improve the quality of the corporate governance debate.”
Harvard Corporate Governance Blog |Dirk Zetzsche
June 2014 | Best Practice Principles for Proxy Advisors and Chairman’s Report
DusLaw |Dirk Zetzsche
May 2014 | Code of Conduct for Voting Advisers – the Chairman’s Report
Linklaters |UK Corporate Update
March 2014 | New guidance for proxy advisors to improve issuer-investor relations
“The new principles should promote higher standards, greater consistency and increased transparency for both investors, who rely on their research when making voting decisions, and issuers, who may now find it easier to engage with such advisors.”
Diritto Bancario
5th March 2014 | Proxy advisors: i nuovi Best Practice Principles for Shareholder Voting Research
Financial Times
24th February 2014 | Proxy Advisers Dodge Draconian Regulation
Financial News
17th February 2014 | Proxy group poised to pitch international code of conduct
Financial News
30th October 2013 | Proxy advisory group aims to ‘bust’ sector myths