The problem of proxy access to the corporation’s ballot has been one that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has struggled with for a long time.

“Independence” is a central corporate governance idea in the discussions of the Sarbanes-Oxley era. But have the SEC, public companies, mutual funds, stock exchanges, accountants, and proxy advisers gotten carried away by the pursuit of independence? What are its limitations and does it interfere with other essential elements of governance,...

Regulation is necessary to overcome perverse incentives and ensure the quality of corporate governance ratings, which are important to institutional investors, managers, and their clients.

Despite the strong rhetoric, Iranian leaders are worried about the outcome of the wave of protests, because Arabs are protesting for democracy, and not against the West.

Martin Lipton comments on some of the most significant issues facing boards of directors in 2008.

At a recent ExxonMobil annual meeting, members of the Rockefeller family made news by backing a shareholder proposal to change company policy in an effort to alleviate global warming. The resulting media attention raised questions about the proper role of institutional investors in voting on political or social issues brought...

Acontroversial 2003 Securities and Exchange Commission rule, intended to make it easier for shareholders to nominate and elect members of corporate boards, is back on the table.

The Committee believes there would be considerable potential benefit for the economy if shareholders were able more easily to elect directors who are committed to better corporate performance, but not if the result would merely be to facilitate the use of the election process by small groups of shareholders more interested in their personal causes than in the performance of the firm.