On Sept. 6, 2024, Barnes & Thornburg, Vanderbilt Law School’s Law and Business Program, National Association of Corporate Directors–Nashville (NACD) and Vanderbilt University’s Hans Stoll Financial Markets Research Center co-hosted the inaugural Public Company Shareholder Engagement Summit.

The complimentary event featured a fireside chat with SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, where Jay Knight, partner and co-chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Securities and Capital Markets practice group, asked the Commissioner about the successes and challenges he’s encountered, the Commissioner’s view on institutional investor ownership and the role the SEC has in regulating that space, shareholder proposals, the current environmental, social, and governance (ESG) landscape, the evolution of materiality, activism and its impact on corporate governance, artificial intelligence (AI), and near-term activity and focus areas for the SEC, among more.