On May 23, 2013, the SEC issued an administrative order instituting a cease-and-desist proceeding pursuant to Sections 203(e) and 203(k) of the Investment Advisers Act against Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS). The SEC found that from approximately 2007 through early 2012 "an ISS employee provided information to a proxy solicitor concerning how more than 100 of ISS's institutional shareholder advisory clients were voting their proxy ballots. In exchange for vote information, the proxy solicitor gave the ISS employee meals, expensive tickets to concerts and sporting events, and an airline ticket." Considering ISS's offer of settlement and remediation efforts, the SEC ordered it to "cease-and-desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Section 204A of the Advisers Act, and to pay a civil penalty of $300,000."

On May 23, 2013, the SEC announced that it "charged Rockville, Md.-based proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) for failing to safeguard the confidential proxy voting information of clients participating in a number of significant proxy contests."