Institutional shareholders in US firms push for boardroom say

New York

ANNUAL shareholder meetings are supposed to allow a company's owners to change troubling governance practices such as outsize executive pay or directors who neglect their fiduciary duties.

In reality, however, most of these meetings and the shareholder votes that are cast at them give outside investors little say on oversight of a company's board. That is because the current director election system in the United States allows board members to win or hold their seats even if they do not receive support from a majority of shareholder votes cast.