Broadridge is set to provide Smith & Williamson Group, a financial and professional services firm in the UK and Ireland, with its Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) solution for proxy voting.
Smith & Williamson will use the Broadridge solution to support its discretionary and non-discretionary execution clients, spanning both institutional and retail investors.
The solutions will be used to meet responsibilities under SRD II including the distribution of meeting agendas within stricter timeframes, reconciling votes on a daily basis and processing votes “without delay”.
Additionally, it will handle all aspects of vote confirmation, including timely electronic confirmation back to shareholders.
SRD II, which went live on 3 September, is global in its scope, insofar as it impacts any financial intermediary that holds or services European equities, irrespective of where the firm is located. It applies to all types of financial intermediaries, including banks and brokers, wealth managers and central securities depositories (CSDs).
Nick Murphy, partner at Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP, said: “We take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously and it is important to us, and to our clients, that we are well-prepared for a smooth transition that mitigates compliance risk and delivers the combined benefits of greater process efficiency and higher governance standards.”
Demi Derem, general manager of Broadridge’s international investor communication solutions, added: “We are delighted to continue to work with Smith & Williamson to meet its shareholder communications needs. Smith & Williamson was one of the first brokers to recognise the implications of SRD II to its business and also understood why being ready for SRD II compliance would be so important to its clients.”
In a recent interview with Derem, he stated that the industry is “ready to varying degrees” for SRD II.
In July, Broadridge said it had experienced a record number of new signings for its multi-industry SRD II solution.
