Cecabank S.A., one of the largest global custodian banks in Spain, has selected Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) to provide them with a global proxy voting solution. The partnership allows Cecabank to broaden its services related to new mandatory obligations under the updated Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II).

The Directive aims to improve relations between shareholders and listed companies at the European level, making them more fluid, transparent and efficient. In general SRD II allows more transparency into shareholders, regulates the transmission of information between the company and shareholders, and encourages the involvement of shareholders in the corporate governance of listed companies, facilitating the exercise of their voting rights. Likewise, it obliges institutional investors and asset managers to develop and make public an engagement policy with which they must be consistent in the exercise of such voting rights.

SRD II marks the greatest change to European corporate governance standards and processes in recent years. It is global in scope and applies to all types of financial intermediaries, including banks and brokers, wealth managers and central securities depositories (CSDs) that trade or hold European equities.

The solution is already live and is providing Cecabank’s wide range of domestic and cross-border institutional clients with a comprehensive and fully automated global proxy voting service. Cecabank’s move to adopt Broadridge’s solution comes as the Spanish government is due to sign off its transposition to make SRD II a compulsory legal requirement in Spain.

“In selecting Broadridge’s end-to-end global proxy solution, Cecabank is better prepared to meet the upcoming SRD II regulatory transposition in Spain and further strengthen its position as a leading Spanish securities services bank,” said Demi Derem, Head of Broadridge’s International Bank Broker Dealer Communication Solutions. “It clearly demonstrates their responsible and proactive approach to regulatory change, their continued commitment to corporate governance and the associated benefits that this delivers to their customers.”

Broadridge has received unprecedented demand for its award-winning SRD II solutions, carrying out over 220 client implementations. Earlier in January, Broadridge announced its collaboration with France-based SLIB, a software vendor of electronic voting and security services, to offer a joint, cross-border proxy voting solution for SRD II compliance, covering European shareholder meetings.