Broadridge announces new onboardings to its SRD II solution

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Broadridge Financial Services announced today a number of new signings for its SRD II solution, thus responding to the need for financial institutions globally to comply with European Commission’s (EC’s) updated Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) by the September 3rd 2020. The company said that it is onboarding clients, from within and outside of Europe, to its SRD II solution for facilitating global proxy voting and shareholder disclosure.

“We are witnessing strong demand, and we are market-ready with our end-to-end solution across the shareholder communications chain,” said Demi Derem, the Broadridge executive who is spearheading global SRD efforts. “It is crucial for firms to move ahead with a strong solution with proven viability for all in-scope markets – from the straightforward to the most complex – while simultaneously meeting stringent European client data standards.”

According to Broadridge, its Global Proxy solution includes same-day event capture and distribution, same-day proxy vote processing and vote confirmations, advanced multi-channel retail functionality and European client data storage.  Its digital solution, Shareholder Disclosure Hub, leverages API and blockchain-based technologies to address SRD II’s new shareholder disclosure requirements.

“SRD II heralds a major step forward for corporate governance standards in Europe, bringing greater transparency and efficiency to investor communications, and driving higher standards of stewardship and improved levels of investor engagement,” said Markus Kaum, founding partner at Governance & Values, a European company focused on corporate governance and shareholder engagement services. “While some intermediaries, such as global custodians, are fully aware of their new obligations under SRD II and duly prepared, for many other firms in the banking, brokerage and wealth industries the provision of services, such as proxy voting and shareholder disclosure, are new and, with September 2020 fast approaching, they cannot afford to delay.”