I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4656
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2023
Mr. Nunn of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit robovoting with respect to votes related to proxy or consent solicitation materials, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Protecting American’s Savings Act
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Requirements related to proxy voting
In general
Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78n) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Prohibition on robovoting
In general
The Commission shall issue final rules prohibiting the use of robovoting with respect to votes related to proxy or consent solicitation materials.
Robovoting defined
In this subsection, the term robovoting means the practice of automatically voting in a manner consistent with the recommendations of a proxy advisory firm or pre-populating votes on a proxy advisory firm’s electronic voting platform with the proxy advisory firm’s recommendations, in either case, without independent review and analysis.
Prohibition on outsourcing voting decisions by institutional investors
An institutional investor may not outsource voting decisions with respect to votes related to proxy or consent solicitation materials.
No requirement to vote
No person may be required to cast votes related to proxy or consent solicitation materials.
Proxy advisory firm calculation of votes
With respect to votes related to proxy or consent solicitation materials with respect to an issuer, a proxy advisor firm shall calculate the vote result consistent with the law of the State in which the issuer is incorporated.
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Proxy advisory firm defined
Section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Proxy advisory firm
The term proxy advisory firm—
means any person who is primarily engaged in the business of providing proxy voting advice, research, analysis, ratings, or recommendations to clients, which conduct constitutes a solicitation within the meaning of section 14; and
does not include any person that is exempt under law or regulation from the requirements otherwise applicable to persons engaged in such a solicitation.
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