Cigna Corp.'s board is urging shareholders to vote against shareholder proposals related to cyber risk and gender pay gap.

A shareholder wants the board to review and publicly report on cyber risk and actions taken to mitigate such risk. The report should include policies, procedures, or other information, such as the parts of the business that are prone to material cyber risk and descriptions of cyber incidents. The shareholder also wants the board to disclose information related to critical assets, employee training on data security and privacy-related risks as well as data breach and incident response plans.

In response, the board said a stand-alone cyber risk report is "unnecessary and duplicative" since Cigna already discloses information protection policies, practices and procedures related to information protection and cyber security in its annual corporate responsibility report. Implementing the proposal could also harm the company and its stakeholders as the type of disclosures in the proposal could potentially compromise sensitive data from customers, clients and partners.

Another shareholder seeks a report identifying whether a gender pay gap exists among Cigna's employees. If a gap is found, the shareholder wants the company to disclose its plan to reduce the gap.

However, the board said adopting the proposal is "unnecessary" as it would not improve Cigna's already established commitment to pay equity and diversity and inclusion. The board noted that Cigna's recruiting, training and compensation programs are designed to prevent gender pay gap. The board also said the company reviews and addresses pay disparities not explained by objective factors.

Shareholders will vote on the proposals during the April 24 annual meeting.