Washington: Asserting that two foreign-owned firms exert outsized influence over corporate governance in the United States, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing sweeping regulatory and enforcement reviews of the proxy advisory industry.

The order, titled Protecting American Investors from Foreign-Owned and Politically-Motivated Proxy Advisors, focuses on Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC, which it says “control more than 90 percent of the proxy advisor market” and play “a significant role in shaping the policies and priorities of America’s largest companies through the shareholder voting process.”

“Unbeknownst to many Americans,” the order states, these firms advise clients on how to vote “the enormous numbers of shares their client

See Full Page