The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is taking steps to reverse controversial regulations passed last year that put new restrictions on proxy advisory firms.
The proposed overhaul would strip business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of a policy win.
Executives cheered GOP-backed changes approved in July 2020 that restricted firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., and Glass Lewis & Co. Critics argued the tweaks would have made it harder for investors to press for changes in corporate strategy.
The SEC's new plan, proposed under Chair Gary Gensler, a Democrat, would scrap added requirements that Republicans say were needed to crack down on conflicts of interest.
Gensler, who was joined by the agency's two other Democrats in voting to put the proposal out for comment on Wednesday, said in a statement that "investors have expressed concerns that such conditions, as written, would impair the independence and timeliness of proxy voting advice."
