Chalk this up as another big win in our anti-ESG efforts and evidence that Trump’s anti-DEI executive order (now backed by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s enforcement memo) suggesting private company DEI efforts may run afoul of federal civil rights laws.
The ISS statement comes pretty close to admitting their previous policy of endorsing board members based on diversity criteria was illegal discrimination:
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) annually conducts a thorough, rigorous, and transparent policy review to consider updates to its Benchmark policy and its Specialty policies for the upcoming proxy season. On an exceptional basis, ISS also considers updates to its policies in light of relevant legal and regulatory changes…
In the United States, there recently has been increased attention on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, including the issuance last month of Presidential Executive Orders on DEI…
In light of these developments, ISS will indefinitely halt consideration of certain diversity factors in making vote recommendations with respect to directors at U.S. companies under its proprietary Benchmark and Specialty policies.
