On Friday, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a prominent U.S.-based proxy advisory firm, issued a strong recommendation for investors of Keisei Electric Railway $9009.T to vote against six nominees for the company’s board of directors, including the current CEO. ISS’s stance aligns with UK-based activist investor Palliser Capital, which has long campaigned for governance improvements and capital reallocation at the Japanese railway operator. This development highlights increasing scrutiny by shareholders on management effectiveness and capital strategy in Japan’s public companies.

Tensions are rising at BlackRock Inc. $BLK as the influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has urged investors to reject the asset manager's latest executive compensation proposals. This development intensifies scrutiny of BlackRock’s governance practices after a notably divided vote on leadership pay last year.