State Street Finds Some Companies Lacking on Good Governance

State Street Corp. is putting pressure on U.S.-listed companies that don’t meet its expectations for board accountability, shareholder rights, and other aspects of corporate governance.

The world’s third-largest asset manager wants to talk with 66 companies in the S&P 500 index that it says don’t adhere closely enough to a set of good governance principles it laid out with other investors last year. Companies that fail to explain why they don’t align with the principles could see votes against directors starting this month, State Street said.

The Boston-based firm came up with 13 criteria for measuring how companies stack up ...