Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has released proposed updates to its 2026 U.S. Benchmark Voting Policies, along with revisions to global policies that will impact Canadian issuers, particularly around director independence classifications. The comment period is open until 5:00 p.m. ET on November 11, 2025.
Key proposed changes include:
· Extension of CEO pay alignment tests to a 5-year period, with both short- and long-term analysis
· First-year action on excessive non-employee director (NED) pay
· Flexible say-on-pay responsiveness for feedback-constrained companies
· Updated global standards for director independence and environmental & social (E&S) proposals
