New ISS Help Center

On April 9, 2018, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) launched a new online communications portal, the ISS Help Center, to provide a simplified interface for submitting questions to ISS Research.  The new Help Center will be used for submitting questions and requests to ISS for a number of important subjects, including:

  • proxy voting and shareholder meeting research
  • QualityScore corporate profiles and methodology questions
  • research engagement requests
  • submissions and disclosures relating to company data

Additionally, ISS's announcement of the new Help Center reminds companies and their advisors that Help Center submissions should not refer to any past, present or expected services from ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc. (ICS), in order to maintain separation between ISS Research and ICS.

Effective immediately, companies and other parties should contact ISS using the Help Center at https://issgovernance.service-now.com/csp, rather than submitting questions to the ISS Global Research Help Desk, or to other email addresses that are being retired with this launch:

  • GlobalResearch@issgovernance.com
  • USResearch@issgovernance.com
  • QualityScore@issgovernance.com
  • AustralianP4Psupport@issgovernance.com
  • EuropeanP4Psupport@issgovernance.com

Updated U.S. Voting Policy FAQs

The Help Center launch followed shortly after ISS updated its U.S. Proxy Voting Research Procedures & Policies FAQs on March 29, 2018, and prompted a further update to address the new Help Center communications processes.  The updated FAQs are available here and address the following topics:

  • access to and use of ISS proxy reports
  • process for correcting ISS proxy reports using the ISS Help Center
  • process for requesting engagement with ISS Research using the ISS Help Center, including providing:
    • a detailed agenda for the engagement
    • a list of the company's participants;
    • preferred dates and times
  • voting policies regarding poison pills
  • voting policies regarding board classification

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.