Justice Department Withdraws Business Review Letter Issued to Proxy Advisory Firm

Today, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (“Antitrust Division”) is withdrawing a 1987 Business Review Letter (the “1987 BRL” or the “Letter”) issued to Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”). ISS is a foreign-owned proxy advisory firm that advises its clients on how to vote shares their clients hold for thousands of corporate governance questions each year. ISS and Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC (“Glass Lewis”), control more than 90 percent of the proxy advisory market and their clients’ holdings represent a significant ownership stake in the United States’ largest publicly traded companies. As a result of this concentration of market power, ISS and Glass Lewis have tremendous influence in corporate governance matters and, based on their market dominance, shape the policies of America’s largest companies.