On 27 May, ExxonMobil shareholders will vote on a ballot that includes a proposal to redomicile the company from New Jersey to Texas.

A proposal from ExxonMobil to shift its legal domicile from New Jersey to Texas lands at a moment when shareholder proposals have all but disappeared from its annual meetings and the company has introduced new structures that reshape how shareholder votes are cast and counted.

A clash over a BP shareholder resolution, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) retreat from traditional proposal review and ExxonMobil’s planned move to Texas all point to the same trend: management and regulators are testing the boundaries of shareholder scrutiny.