RiskMetrics Group is seeking feedback from institutional investors, corporate issuers and other corporate governance constituents on the draft of its 2009 proxy-voting policies, according to a statement today by the corporate governance research and risk management company.
Comments on the proposed policies may be made starting today at http://www.riskmetrics.com/policy.
Risk Metrics will publicly post all comments.
The feedback is a key component in RiskMetrics’ formation of its annual revision of its proxy-voting policy “to ensure its voting policies are informed by a broad range of perspectives,” the statement said.
“RiskMetrics Group believes listening to multiple views on corporate governance issues is critical for effective policy formulation” and helps “foster transparency in governance practices and proxy voting globally.” Kayla Gillan, chief administrative officer of RiskMetrics, said in the statement.
Martha Carter, head of RiskMetrics’ global policy board, said in the statement: “With the current market backdrop, prudent governance on the part of corporate boards has never been more important.”
The comment period runs through Oct. 31 and covers both RiskMetrics’ proposed U.S. and international proxy-voting policies. RiskMetrics will release its final 2009 U.S. and international policy updates on Nov. 20.
