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Press Release

Smith & Williamson Selects Broadridge’s Industry Leading
Shareholder Rights Directive II
Compliance Solution

SRD II proxy solution will help Smith & Williamson to meet new EU regulatory requirements commencing September 2020

NEW YORK and LONDON – September 15, 2020 Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader, has announced an agreement to provide Smith & Williamson Group, a leading financial and professional services firm in the UK and Ireland, with its Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) solution for proxy voting. Smith & Williamson is using the Broadridge solution to support its discretionary and non-discretionary execution clients, spanning both institutional and retail investors.

An existing user of Broadridge’s shareholder communication solutions, Smith & Williamson has upgraded to Broadridge’s enhanced end-to-end Global Proxy solution to fulfil its new responsibilities under SRD II, which had a regulatory readiness deadline of 3rd September 2020. This includes the distribution of meeting agendas within stricter timeframes, reconciling votes on a daily basis and processing votes “without delay.” It also handles all aspects of vote confirmation, including timely electronic confirmation back to shareholders.

“We take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously and it is important to us, and to our clients, that we are well-prepared for a smooth transition that mitigates compliance risk and delivers the combined benefits of greater process efficiency and higher governance standards,” said Nick Murphy, Partner, at Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP.  “Broadridge, with its deep global domain expertise and strong investor communications governance model, has helped us to be well-positioned for delivering to our clients a unified service to manage proxy voting for their full portfolio of holdings.”

“We are delighted to continue to work with Smith & Williamson to meet its shareholder communications needs,” said Demi Derem, general manager of Broadridge’s International Investor Communication Solutions. “Smith & Williamson was one of the first brokers to recognise the implications of SRD II to its business and also understood why being ready for SRD II compliance would be so important to its clients.”

SRD II is global in its scope, insofar as it impacts any financial intermediary that holds or services European equities, irrespective of where the firm is located. It applies to all types of financial intermediaries, including banks and brokers, wealth managers and central securities depositaries (CSDs).

About Smith & Williamson

Smith & Williamson is a leading financial and professional services firm providing a comprehensive range of investment management, tax, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients and their business interests. The firm’s 1,800 people operate from a network of 12 offices: London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cheltenham, Dublin (City and Sandyford), Glasgow, Guildford, Jersey, Salisbury and Southampton. Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP is part of The Tilney Smith & Williamson Group.

Risk Warning

Investment does involve risk. The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up. The investor may not receive back, in total, the original amount invested.

Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered No 580531

© Tilney Smith & Williamson Limited 2020

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader with over $6 billion in revenues, provides the critical infrastructure that powers investing, corporate governance, and communications to enable better financial lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions that drive business transformation for banks, broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies. Broadridge's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and institutional investors around the world. Our technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of more than $10 trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us, please visit www.broadridge.com.

To contact media relations, please email us at mediarelations@broadridge.com.