The 2010 annual meeting season is shaping up to be an active one for shareholder proxy measures, particularly those dealing with executive compensation issues. But if Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission act on pending measures that make it easier for competing candidates to run for director and give shareholders more say over compensation, this year could end up looking like the calm before the storm.

“I doubt that Congress or the SEC would change the rules in the middle of this meeting year,” says Patrick McGurn, general counsel at RiskMetrics Group, which monitors shareholder actions. “But both reforms look to be on track for 2011.”

Meanwhile, McGurn predicts that there will be some “eye-popping disclosures” of executive bonuses issued last year, and says these will fuel more push-back measures on compensation by shareholders this year and next.