Institutional Shareholder Services terminated Gary Lyons, the head of its corporate consulting services division, and may be retreating from that venture.
ISS had been criticized for advising corporations at the same time it advised pension funds on corporate proxy voting.
Mr. Lyons was terminated Monday without notice. Yet on Feb. 21, Mr. Lyons said, ISS President Jamie Heard had told him in an e-mail that he was doing a good job and that there'd always be a place for him. Mr. Heard declined to discuss the e-mail or the circumstances leading up to Mr. Lyons' departure.
Howard Sherman, ISS senior vice president, said it was an internal matter and that ``Gary Lyons and ISS decided our interests were diverging, and Gary left the firm as of Monday.''
Mr. Sherman said the firm is evaluating its plans for its corporate consulting service and ``will be doing so carefully over the next few months.''
