The New York Stock Exchange will form an independent advisory commission that will examine U.S. corporate governance and the proxy process with an eye to improving best practices, NYSE Euronext said Tuesday.

The advisory commission, which will be chaired by Larry Sonsini, chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, plans to work with policymakers and others on comprehensive corporate governance and proxy reform.

Sonsini chaired the proxy working group formed by the NYSE in 2005. The other members of the commission will be announced soon, and will include various corporate governance experts, in an effort to canvas input from public companies, shareholders and institutional and individual investors.

“As an institution, we are uniquely positioned to bring together leading experts on important issues in order to create a constructive dialog in the financial community regarding corporate governance that will benefit issuers, investors and the overall market,” said Duncan Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext. “The creation of this advisory commission is consistent with our mission to serve the investing public. We look forward to working with the advisory commission to achieve a better and more efficient governance and proxy process.”

IE