Proxy voting · Concepts · European Finance Observatory

Roles that need it

SRD II (Shareholder Rights Directive II)The Shareholder Rights Directive II, Directive (EU) 2017/828, amends the 2007 directive to encourage long-term shareholder engagement. It gives listed companies the right to identify their shareholders, requires intermediaries to pass on information and votes in standard formats, and sets transparency duties for asset managers and proxy advisors.
Corporate actionA corporate action, or corporate event, is an action by an issuer that affects its securities and their holders, such as a dividend, a coupon payment, a stock split, a rights issue, a merger or a redemption. Events are mandatory, mandatory with choice, or voluntary, and must be processed along the whole custody chain.
CustodianA custodian is a financial institution, usually a bank, that holds securities and cash on behalf of clients, settles their trades and services the assets through corporate actions, income collection, tax relief and reporting. A global custodian covers many markets through its own branches or a network of sub-custodians.
Record dateThe record date is the date on which the issuer, or its CSD, determines who is entitled to a corporate action, based on settled positions at the end of that business day. Under a two-day settlement cycle it falls one business day after the ex-date; under T+1 the two dates coincide. The payment date follows it.

Updated 31 Oct 2026.