Broadridge to provide SRD II proxy voting service to Cecabank

By Sunniva Kolostyak

Cecabank has selected Broadridge to meet mandatory obligations under the updated Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) by using its global proxy voting solution.

Cecabank, one of the largest custodian banks in Spain, has already gone live with the Broadridge solution, providing its domestic and cross-border institutional clients with a comprehensive and fully automated global proxy voting service.

The move to adopt Broadridge’s solution comes as the Spanish government is due to sign off its transposition to make SRD II a compulsory legal requirement in Spain. The directive aims to improve relations between shareholders and listed companies at the European level, making them more fluid, transparent and efficient.

“We are extremely pleased to have chosen Broadridge as our strategic provider for SRD II,” Luis Francisco Jiménez Aragón, Head of Securities Custody and Settlement at Cecabank, commented.

“As an established global market leader for investor communications, we know that they have the critical mass, deep expertise and reputation for service excellence to ensure the timely deployment of a highly efficient solution. We are very well-prepared and already in live operation, ahead of the Spanish authorities’ transposition deadline, and helping to drive higher standards of governance and transparency for our clients and other constituents throughout the proxy voting lifecycle.”

SRD II allows more transparency into shareholders, regulates the transmission of information between the company and shareholders and encourages the involvement of shareholders in the corporate governance of listed companies, facilitating the exercise of their voting rights. Likewise, it obliges institutional investors and asset managers to develop and make public an engagement policy with which they must be consistent in the exercise of such voting rights.

Demi Derem, Head of Broadridge’s International Bank Broker Dealer Communication Solutions, said Broadridge has received unprecedented demand for its SRD II solution, having carried out over 220 client implementations both within and outside Europe, and across both retail- and institutional-focused firms. This includes tier-one banks, brokers and wealth managers.

Derem said: “In selecting Broadridge’s end-to-end global proxy solution, Cecabank is better prepared to meet the upcoming SRD II regulatory transposition in Spain and further strengthen its position as a leading Spanish securities services bank,” said

“It clearly demonstrates their responsible and proactive approach to regulatory change, their continued commitment to corporate governance and the associated benefits that this delivers to their customers.”