Proposals fall as shareholders adjust to market sea-change

Shareholders and companies grappled with heightened geopolitical tensions and policy uncertainty in the 2025 voting season. In the North American market, we saw a marked reduction in the number of shareholder proposals filed, accompanied by a decline in their quality, as new guidance from regulators, and resource constraints for co‑filers, limited the number of proposals making it on to the ballot. In Europe and Australia, environmental issues remained high on the agenda, while governance topics were in focus across all regions.

In North America, we saw several shareholder proposals relating to artificial intelligence (AI), with increasingly sophisticated requests and scrutiny of company practices. Many of these proposals explored the intersections of AI and other topics such as climate change, data privacy, and human capital. Our recently-published EOS Digital Governance Principles expands on these perspectives and helps guide our approach to voting recommendations.

While such proposals were often filed with technology companies on the frontline of AI development, companies in other sectors received them as well. Many Canadian companies received shareholder proposals requesting a commitment to the Canadian government’s Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Responsible Development and Management of Advanced Generative AI Systems.

Corporate tax paying remained in focus. EOS continues to advocate for increased tax transparency, including country-by-country reporting, in line with our Responsible Tax Principles and engagement approach. We believe this is in the interests of companies and investors. In response to the growing demand for greater tax-related transparency, reporting standards and regulatory requirements are emerging. The EU and Australia now require certain multinational companies to file country-by-country report publicly.

However, increased tax transparency regulatory requirements have not fully eliminated the relevance of shareholder proposals seeking greater tax transparency. We believe public disclosure often encourages further board and management scrutiny and provides investors with information that may be useful in their decision making.

We continued to see significant levels of CEO pay and complex structures in various sectors and markets. As part of our engagement and voting recommendations, we emphasised the need for a clear link between pay and performance, as well as a consideration of the broader stakeholder environment when determining executive pay policies.

To find out more, read the full article in our Q2 2025 Public Engagement Report.