The ISS Global Policy Board is encouraging investors, corporations, and other interested parties to submit comments on six major U.S. governance issues. The comments will be considered as ISS updates its proxy voting policies before the 2007 season.

Those six issues include: director election reforms; the definition of an independent director; the use of a corporate performance test for evaluating directors; stock-option grant practices; auditor ratification; and climate change disclosure.

"The need for open dialogue and respect for multiple viewpoints has never been greater. Shareholders and companies continue to debate key governance issues, such as majority voting, executive compensation, and climate risk," said Martha Carter, the ISS managing director who chairs the Global Policy Board. "At ISS, we believe that sharing feedback and listening to multiple views on these issues is critical for effective policy formulation."

Comments are due by Oct. 11. For more information on how to submit comments, please visit here.