Senators Scrutinize Proxy Advisers Over Potential Conflicts

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee are probing two top proxy advisory firms over potential political bias and conflicts of interest, in a renewed push to subject the industry to greater oversight.

“While your influence over corporate governance has grown substantially, your practices have increasingly departed from sound economic principles, undermining the interests of shareholders and the competitiveness of US capital markets,” Chairman Tim Scott, along with Senators Mike Rounds and Bill Hagerty, wrote in a May 20 letter to Glass Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.