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SEC Sues ISS Over Proxy Data
On September 4, 2026, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the primary federal securities regulator, sued Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a dominant proxy advisory firm providing voting recommendations to institutional investors (SEC. Isar Aerospace Reaches Orbit
On September 5, 2026, Munich-based Isar Aerospace launched its 28-meter Spectrum rocket into orbit from Arctic Norway (Reuters).
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Transcript
JOHN: Welcome to The Gist. I’m John.
MARY: And I’m Mary. Today is Sunday, September 6th, 2026.
JOHN: We are your smart friends on the go. We skip the noise and get right to the forces shaping your world.
MARY: Let’s start with The Gist View. Today, we are looking at a major move by the SEC. That is the US Securities and Exchange Commission. They are the top federal regulator for financial markets.
JOHN: On Friday, the SEC sued a company called Institutional Shareholder Services, or ISS. ISS is a proxy advisory firm. They research companies and advise large investors on how to vote at shareholder meetings.
MARY: They don’t actually cast votes. They just sell research to institutions that want to buy it. But ISS and its main rival, Glass Lewis, control about 90% of this advisory market. That makes them a massive bottleneck. They hold a lot of sway over corporate America.
JOHN: So, who benefits from this lawsuit, and why? The SEC wants ISS to hand over its data. This probe is tied to a recent White House order from President Trump. The administration wants to restrict ESG scores. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It is a metric used to measure corporate sustainability.
MARY: The administration gets a populist win here. They are directly policing market demand for non-financial data. But think about the resource flow. When the government dictates what kind of risk analysis investors are allowed to read, capital markets lose their independence.
JOHN: Exactly. It’s like a referee telling a coach which playbooks they are allowed to study. The government is using its power to enforce an ideology, rather than acting as a neutral umpire. The SEC tried a similar move back in 2020. Federal judges struck it down as an overreach. We will see how this one plays out.
MARY: Let’s move to The Global Overview. We are seeing a similar theme of political control over private capital down in Brazil. A Brazilian court just suspended the permits for a major lithium mine.
JOHN: The mine is run by Sigma Lithium. They produce lithium oxide, a key material for batteries. The court halted the project over allegations that the company lied about how close the mine is to traditional indigenous territory.
MARY: Whether it is environmental permits in Brazil or regulatory subpoenas in the US, the tactic is the same. Administrative bottlenecks are being used to micromanage where private money goes.
JOHN: Speaking of control, let’s talk about our phones. A fascinating new study in behavioral economics just dropped. It turns out that short-form video apps are completely overriding user choice.
MARY: The data is wild. Users who actually pay for these apps end up consuming 82% more short-form video than they originally intended. The interface design systematically renews user temptation. It is a one-way resource flow. The platforms harvest your attention, and deliberate choice doesn’t stand a chance.
JOHN: Let’s pivot to The European Perspective. We have huge news in the space race. Isar Aerospace just launched a 28-meter rocket into orbit. They are based in Munich, Germany, but they launched from Arctic Norway.
MARY: This is a milestone. It is the first privately developed orbital launch from continental Europe. Until now, Europe has relied heavily on the Guiana Space Centre in South America. Launching from Norway physically shifts Europe’s space capabilities away from colonial-era infrastructure.
JOHN: It proves that Europe’s tech sovereignty needs private capital. The old model of state-directed legacy consortiums is too slow. But there is a catch. The launch was heavily subsidized by the ESA. That is the European Space Agency, Europe’s main intergovernmental space organization.
MARY: They funded Isar through a program called “Boost!”. So, while it looks like a free-market victory, taxpayers are still underwriting the risk. The private sector gets the glory, but public money paved the runway.
JOHN: Meanwhile in Ukraine, we are seeing some dangerous side effects of private diplomacy. US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv today. This happened right after they had a three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin.
MARY: The fallout was immediate. Over the weekend, Russian strikes hit airports in Kyiv. Zelenskyy confirmed these strikes were a direct reaction to the US envoys’ visit.
JOHN: This highlights a severe breakdown in official channels. When private US negotiators step in, they disrupt the established diplomatic flow. In this case, their shuttle diplomacy directly provoked retaliatory physical strikes.
MARY: Also in Ukraine, the government has found a very surprising new revenue stream. The national Tax Service is going after OnlyFans creators. They are penalizing over 5,000 citizens who collectively earned 111 million dollars on the platform between 2020 and 2022.
JOHN: Here is the kicker. Producing pornography is still legally a criminal offense in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reports they are considering legalizing it to fund their war chest. But for now, it is illegal.
MARY: Yet the state is still extracting back taxes from it. It is a pure power play. The government is prioritizing immediate cash capture over legal consistency. They need the resources, so they are taxing a crime.
JOHN: Let’s wrap it up. Today’s temperature is all about choke points. From the SEC squeezing proxy advisors, to Brazilian courts halting lithium, to algorithms hijacking our attention. Whether it is a rocket in Norway or a creator in Kyiv, power flows to whoever controls the bottleneck.
MARY: Spot on. That is the gist of it for today. If you enjoyed this breakdown and want to stay a step ahead, you should absolutely subscribe to The Gist’s daily newsletter. It is completely free, and it lands right in your inbox. Just tap the link in our show notes to join us. Thanks for listening, and we will catch you tomorrow.
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