Section 957 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) adopted new Section 6(b)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act.  This new provision requires all national securities exchanges to adopt rules that prohibit their members from voting on the election of a member of the board of directors of an issuer (except for a vote with respect to the uncontested election of a member of the board of directors of any investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940), executive compensation, or any other significant matter, as determined by the Commission, unless the member receives voting instructions from the beneficial owner of the shares.

 NASDAQ Rule 2251 currently governs when NASDAQ members may vote shares held for customers by adopting the FINRA Rules. The FINRA rule, in turn, currently prohibits members from voting any uninstructed shares, but also permits the member to follow the rules of another self regulatory organization (SRO) instead.   In order to assure compliance, in all cases, with newly adopted Section 6(b)(10), NASDAQ proposed to modify Rule 2251 to provide that in no event could a member vote uninstructed shares on the election of a member of the board of directors of an issuer (except for a vote with respect to the uncontested election of a member of the board of directors of any investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940), executive compensation, or any other significant matter, as determined by the Commission, unless instructed by the beneficial owner of the shares.

 The SEC approved the NASDAQ rule on an expedited basis.

 The SEC has previously approved the NYSE rules in this regard.

 Check dodd-frank.com frequently for updates on the Dodd-Frank Act.