2027 Proxy Season Shareholder Proposals Challenged by Companies
In late 2025 the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance announced it was withdrawing from its role of providing staff guidance for companies seeking relief from a potential SEC enforcement action if the company were to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy statement. For decades, companies sought that relief by submitting a “No Action” request to the Division, and asking for assurance that their analysis was sound. The Division announced instead that companies would now receive a simple “No Objection letter” from staff.
On August 14, 2026, as the 2025-2026 proxy season was drawing to a close, the Division announced its complete withdrawal from the no-action process, and ended the no-objection policy adopted in November 2025.
We continue to believe it is important to have a clear record of companies unilaterally omitting a resolution this upcoming year, and are again compiling a list of the resolutions for which companies have issued a “notice to exclude” pursuant to Rule 14a-8(j), below. As was the case last proxy season, the chart will not track any anti-ESG resolutions that were challenged. This snapshot of challenges will be updated as necessary.
During the last proxy season some companies continued dialogues with proponents after filing challenges and came to mutual agreements leading to successful withdrawal of the resolutions. And in the end, the vast majority of companies receiving resolutions did not challenge them. We will monitor this year’s activities and assess the trends as they happen.
Apple (AAPL). Topic: Lobbying Expenditures Disclosure (date posted 10.29.26)
