Governance and stewardship news

Accounting-related class action lawsuits fell to their lowest level in more than two decades in 2025 according to new data, which also reveals AI washing risks.

The Coca-Cola Company appears to have filed no ‘no action’ requests for the first time since 2020 despite changes from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving companies greater power to exclude shareholder proposals.

Indiana’s recently ratified House Bill (HB) 1273 arrives at a moment when several US states are testing how far they can go in shaping the information that underpins stewardship information and shareholder voting.

A proposal from ExxonMobil to shift its legal domicile from New Jersey to Texas lands at a moment when shareholder proposals have all but disappeared from its annual meetings and the company has introduced new structures that reshape how shareholder votes are cast and counted.

A clash over a BP shareholder resolution, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) retreat from traditional proposal review and ExxonMobil’s planned move to Texas all point to the same trend: management and regulators are testing the boundaries of shareholder scrutiny.

Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow has launched a lawsuit challenging the exclusion of a climate-related shareholder proposal at international insurance company Chubb.

South Korea and Japan are both eyeing significant reforms in the corporate governance arena that aim to unlock growth and strengthen accountability to investors.

The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) has been formally relaunched with more than 250 signatories just over year after the project was paused following the exit of several major institutional investors.

US telecommunications giant AT&T has U-turned on its decision to exclude a diversity, equity and inclusion-focused (DEI) shareholder proposal from its 2026 proxy materials following a lawsuit from investors.

The UK government has launched the long-awaited UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) with the objective of offering improving the clarity and comparability of information for investors on sustainability-related financial risks and opportunities.

Starbucks shareholders have called on their fellow investors to vote against the re-election of two company directors at its 25 March AGM due to “sustained oversight failures of labor relations”.

Shareholders have sued US telecommunications giant AT&T for excluding a DEI-focused proposal as heightened risks created by the US SEC’s change in approach to ‘no action’ requests are highlighted.

US SEC Chair Paul Atkins has launched a campaign to roll back what he calls “regulatory creep,” outlining a plan to “make IPOs great again” during recent testimony to the US House Financial Committee.

The recent amendment of the European Climate Law marks a decisive moment in the European Union’s climate strategy.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to glean investor and industry insights on a potential update of the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD).

Amazon looks set to exclude at least seven shareholder proposals from its 2026 proxy statement without formal assent from the US Securities and Exchange Commission