The Missouri launches probe on proxy societies to prioritize Dei, ESG on yields

First on Fox: The Missouri general prosecutor, Andrew Bailey, launched parallel investigations this week in two of the country’s main proxy consulting companies, alleging that they have abdicated their fiduciary and violating obligations the laws on the protection of consumers of states by deceiving consumers on their prioritization of the ideology on investor yields.

Bailey has argued in the requests for a civil investigation sent to Glass Lewis and to the services of institutional shareholders (ISS) that they violated the law of consumer protection of states by ensuring their customers that their voting recommendations by proxy are based solely on data and research – and are entirely neutral. But, simultaneously, Bailey maintains that the documents accessible to the public of companies show that their proxy voting recommendations are designed to advance the DEI and the environmental causes, that they undermine investor yields.

Glass Lewis and ISS are two electric centers belonging to foreigners who control approximately 97% of the advisory market for American proxies, according to an April Financial Services Committee report. Companies specialize in the provision of voting recommendations to institutional investors – such as pension funds, retirement systems and mutual funds – on how to vote during business shareholders. These votes frequently include decisions related to the elections of the members of the Council, to the remuneration of managers, to business policies and to other proposals.

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The Missouri general prosecutor, Andrew Bailey, accuses two main proxy consulting firms of misleading consumers by hiding their prioritization of DEI and ESG policies, even at the cost of investor yields. (Istock; Getty Images)

“The Missourians deserve answers on the reasons why the invisible power brokers, controlling a large part of American companies, push a vision of the left world to the detriment of millions of honest investors,” said Bailey. “These are actors belonging to foreigners manipulating the American economy, and we will not let them prosper. We will after the source. These proxy advisers have held the hostage of American companies with their radical ideologies. We put them in notice: the Missouri will not tolerate the ideological coercion disguised as an investment guidance.”

In a petition to apply the law, Bailey sent to the State Circuit Court in order to force the compliance of companies with the new probes, the Attorney General highlights the declarations on the websites of the ISS and Glass Lewis, respectively, which insist that they provide “objective and impartial offers” which are “based on research and data”. At the same time, Bailey points to internal company documents, such as a document entitled “Glass Lewis de Glass Lewis, which includes many sections on the importance of advancing the causes of Dei and ESG.

“This means that Glass Lewis’s declaration that she provides” research and data “which allows her customers to” make informed investment decisions “is false,” wrote Bailey in her petition for application against Glass Lewis.

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The Missouri general prosecutor, Andrew Bailey, is aimed at press members in the former post office building in the city center of St. Louis on Thursday, February 2, 2024. (Vanessa Abbitt / St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Similarly, at ISS, Bailey points to the company’s statements claiming that it provides customers with “objective and impartial offers”, while simultaneously producing internal business reports which include commitments to recommend votes in favor of proposals “calling for the reduction of emissions (greenhouse gas)”.

In addition to consumers misleading on the priorities of their business, Bailey accuses Glass Lewis and the ISS of omitting or not disclosing important information on how he weighs the DEI and ESG standards during the voting recommendation.

Bailey’s survey requests a range of internal documents and communications to help determine if Glass Lewis or ISS have violated the laws on the protection of state consumers through its allegedly misleading complaints and lack of transparency.

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Proxy consultancy firms are key players in the American financial system, providing recommendations to institutional investors on how to vote on resolutions and critical proposals for shareholders. (AP photo / Mark Lennihan, file)

“The ISS and the Glass Lewis have harmed consumers and deceived institutional investors by promoting a radical political program instead of focusing on the maximization of yields. By taking legal measures against the two companies, the prosecutor General Bailey does the right thing and holding them responsible for the priority of Dei’s lukewarm, the activism of the activism of consumers,” Fox News Digital.

“Such deception is not only financially reckless but also illegal and must be encountered by consequences,” continued Hild. “This necessary survey will help expose these activists proxy advisers to deliberately abandon the fiduciary obligations in the name of promotion of the ESG scam.”

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Neither Glass Lewis nor Iss responded to the repeated requests of Fox News Digital to comment.

Earlier this year, Glass Lewis received a similar civil investigation request by the Florida Republican Attorney General. This decision followed another similar request for information in 2023 by 21 prosecutors of the State, including Bailey at the time.