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E-MailAmy Goodman is a partner and co-chair of the Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. The following post is based on a Gibson Dunn alert by Ms. Goodman and Elizabeth A. Ising.
On January 8, 2014, Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (“ISS”) announced that it will launch a new version of QuickScore (“QuickScore 2.0”) on February 18, 2014. QuickScore benchmarks a company’s governance risk against other companies in the Russell 3000 Index based on a number of weighted governance factors. QuickScore 2.0 will use a different method to score companies’ governance risk and will automatically reflect changes in companies’ governance structures based on publicly disclosed information.
- First, QuickScore 2.0 will add seven new governance factors (unspecified) and modify the weightings assigned to the governance factors in its scoring methodology. According to ISS, the new factors and weightings are intended to draw more distinctions between companies and align scores with ISS voting policies and company performance. Companies will continue to be scored on an overall basis and across four categories: Board, Compensation, Shareholder Rights, and Audit. Companies also will continue to be scored relative to other companies in the Russell 3000 Index.
- Second, QuickScore 2.0 will automatically update companies’ governance data and QuickScores based on publicly available information that discloses changes in companies’ governance structures.
ISS will release more detailed information on QuickScore 2.0 on January 27, 2014.
Companies are encouraged to verify their governance data through the ISS Governance Analytics website before the launch of QuickScore 2.0.
- Until January 27, 2014, companies can view their governance data currently used in QuickScore.
- From 9:00 a.m. EST on January 27, 2014 until 8:00 p.m. EST on February 7, 2014, companies will be able to preview their updated QuickScore 2.0 governance data and submit requests for changes to ISS. ISS indicates that it will review and respond to each of these requests.
- After the launch of QuickScore 2.0 on February 18, 2014, companies will be able to verify their governance data on an ongoing basis.
