# Nebraska Joins Multi-State Lawsuit Against Proxy Advisory Firm ISS  
**Published:** 2026-05-20T15:42:48.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Attorney General](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/nebraska-joins-multi-state-lawsuit-against-proxy-advisory-firm-iss

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has joined a multi-state legal action against Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., the nation's largest proxy advisor, alleging the company [misled investors by promising objective advice while secretly promoting an undisclosed ESG agenda](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda).

ISS sells guidance to institutional investors on how to vote their shares at corporate shareholder meetings. According to the lawsuit, [ISS coordinated with ESG activist groups including Climate Action 100+, Ceres, and The Children's Investment Fund to shape recommendations without disclosing this influence to clients](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda).

"ISS sold Nebraska investors on the promise of objective, independent research. What they were actually getting was advocacy—coordinated with ESG activist organizations, untested against any financial standard, and driven by an ideological agenda that ISS never disclosed," Hilgers said.

The lawsuit alleges that while ISS offers separate ESG-focused products to those seeking such guidance, the firm secretly embedded the same ESG mandates into its main benchmark advice provided to clients who expected neutral recommendations. [From 2022 to early 2025, ISS allegedly recommended votes against board members based on race and ethnicity—a policy the lawsuit says was illegal and not disclosed to clients](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda). The firm ended the practice after a 2025 executive order.

The lawsuit also claims ISS ran a side consulting business selling ESG services to the same companies it rated, creating undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Nebraska, Iowa, West Virginia, and Texas filed suit against ISS on Wednesday, following [Florida's lawsuit filed in November](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda). The coordinated effort, known as the Multistate Proxy Advisor Coalition, includes 16 states working to challenge what they characterize as widespread harm from ISS's practices.

[ISS commands 48 percent market share in the proxy advisory industry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Shareholder_Services), giving it substantial influence over corporate governance decisions. [Hilgers noted ISS exerts outsized influence over corporate decisions in Nebraska and the United States, citing the firm's opposition to seating Warren Buffett as a director at Berkshire Hathaway as evidence of ideological rather than financial decision-making](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda).

## Sources

- [Nebraska Attorney General](https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda)
- [Institutional Shareholder Services market share and background](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Shareholder_Services)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Attorney General, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://ago.nebraska.gov/nebraska-attorney-general-sues-iss-misleading-investors-and-pushing-esg-agenda.