Business Groups Delay Rule That Gives Shareholders More Say
Business groups and financial regulators are going head-to-head in court over a rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission that would give shareholders more say in a company’s leadership. Shareholders who were disappointed that such a rule was omitted from this year's financial reform law scored a victory in August when the SEC voted to adopt what’s known as a proxy access rule.
But any celebration on the part of investor groups may have been premature. After the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable – two of the largest business trade groups – fought to overturn the SEC’s new rule, the SEC agreed this week to put the new rule on hold while awaiting a court ruling on the matter.
As we noted at the time of the rulemaking, the proxy access rule gave shareholders more power to nominate directors to the board of publicly traded companies by requiring companies to include outside candidates on the company’s corporate ballots, or proxy materials. Shareholders currently have to mail out separate ballots to nominate their own candidates, and that takes more time, effort, and expense. (To be eligible to nominate a director, a shareholder or a group of shareholders must own at least 3 percent of the company’s stock and have held the shares for at least three years.)
Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt told us after the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill that proxy access was the most important omission from the bill because “as the system has been structured, shareholders have no say in the management of the company except in very, very unusual circumstances.”
Investor groups seem to agree. The Council of Institutional Investors called the Chamber and the Business Roundtable’s lawsuit “an assault on a fundamental shareholder right,” and said it planned to file a legal brief in support of the rule [PDF].
The Chamber of Commerce, however, has argued that the rule gives “special interests the ability to hold the board hostage on narrow issues at the expense of other shareholders.
Get Updates
Our Hottest Stories
- How Citibank Dumped Lousy Mortgages on the Government
- Obama Housing Plans vs. Reality
- How (and How Not) to Jumpstart an Economy
- Federal Rules to Disclose Fracking Chemicals Could Come with Exceptions
- The Best, Most Revealing Reporting on the Foreclosure Crisis
- Colorado Redistricting Had Inside Help
- Pioneering a Way to Distinguish Blood Disorders From Child Abuse
- New Arrests in Murdoch Bribery Scandal Raise Question of U.S. Charges
- SEC Warns Top Banker of Charges Over Magnetar Deal
- Two Wall Street Players Ensnared in New Probe
- Will Mortgage Settlement Avoid Repeating Obama’s Foreclosure Failures?
- Obama Housing Plans vs. Reality
- How Citibank Dumped Lousy Mortgages on the Government
- Why Millions Won't Get Help From Big Mortgage Settlement
- How (and How Not) to Jumpstart an Economy
- Federal Rules to Disclose Fracking Chemicals Could Come with Exceptions
- The Best, Most Revealing Reporting on the Foreclosure Crisis
- Colorado Redistricting Had Inside Help
- California Congresswoman’s Redistricting Shenanigans Catch Eye of Ethics Committee
- New Arrests in Murdoch Bribery Scandal Raise Question of U.S. Charges







12 comments
stevor
Oct. 5, 2010, 5:07 p.m.
Isn’t it amazing that the OWNERS (the shareholders) can’t tell the CEO (who is employed by the shareholders) what to do?
Doesn’t sound like the USA to me. But wait until Obummer achieves his SOCIALIST STATE and see if anybody but the Power Elite direct the world.
Woody Woodrich
Oct. 5, 2010, 7:57 p.m.
Yes sir! The “free market”—efficient and self correcting.
Phil Brewer
Oct. 5, 2010, 9:43 p.m.
Abe Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all the time.”
People who feed daily at the Fox News trough are the people you can fool all of the time and I think stevor is one of them.
stevor
Oct. 5, 2010, 9:54 p.m.
Phil,
I NEVER listen to Fox News. I’ve never listened to Beck. I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh.
I DO read LOTS of books and lots of opinions FROM BOTH SIDES and put the facts together. Here’s a little something I just figured out, regarding the “grand conspiracy” that I sent to some folks. I doubt you’ve done enough reading to have even given such things any thought, though:
**********************
There is a group, sometimes called the Power Elite (PE), who are taking over the country.
Their objective is to turn the world into a socialist state.
To get people to accept that socialist state, they keep having a “bogeyman” that we have to worry about.
The “bogeyman” and the need to “protect” us from it mostly started with WWII but Woodrow Wilson was already talking about a New World Order almost a hundred years ago and pretty much every president since then has been told of that agenda since then.
Back in WWII Hitler was the bogeyman. Since he openly showed his hostility toward the Jews, the PE figured they’d make use of that for their agenda. Some in the PE “joined” Hitler to “become” Nazis, but they were just using him and still had their allegiance to the PE (such as “grandpa” Bush and many US corporations “helping” the Nazis). That is why, when WWII ended, so many of the “Nazis” (who were really plants by the PE) were helped to escape and if tried, saved from much prison time.
The Zionist Jews (Ashkenazi Jews, from the group that moved out of the middle east at least by the 4th century and which became “white”) wanted a “state” of Israel and also used the Nazis to scare Jews out of Germany, Russia, and elsewhere for fear of being killed.
Since WWII, the bogeyman was Russia and the communists. The CIA pretended to be against the “commies” but they were just the “secret” arm for the PE (with the Israeli Mossad and probably British “intelligence”), still to make sure we had a bogeyman to be afraid of.
When Russia was no longer a threat, a new “bogeyman” was needed. Well, there were always the Muslims, who the Christians fought back in the Crusades. The Muslims were a barbaric group with their Sharia Law, so they were easy to “hate”.
So, pretty much ALL “terrorism” is created by the PE, through the CIA (such as al Qaida) or the Mossad. It’s easy for Israelis to dress up as Muslims and do terrorism. Also, the CIA/Mossad has irked so many countries with their terrorism and Imperialism, that it’s not hard to find some non-CIA “assets” to do the evil deeds (In the case of 911, there probably were Muslims in those planes, but the CIA intercepted their messages and figured they’d USE them, putting Thermite in the World Trade Center (WTC) to make sure the buildings collapsed. (Conveniently, the PE got the military off doing all kinds of “drills” so they “didn’t” (or had an excuse for not) realize that the planes headed to the WTC weren’t part of THE “drill”.
So, what’s all the Middle East war about? Will anybody ever nuke Iran? No, nuking a country just creates too much of a bad environment and there’s too many fooled by the PE to believe that the NWO will also be “more environmental” (think of Cap & Trade with “global warming”/“climate change”). The “middle east war” is to ALSO get Israel to go along with the NWO/one-world-government.
I guess the next “big question” is, “what about Obummer?” Is he for a one-world-government? Sure he is. That was part of his socialist upbringing, which started with the teachings of “uncle” Frank Davis (who seems more likely to be Obummer’s father than Barack, Sr.) But would Obummer go for all the killing that “has to be done” to coerce everybody to accept the NWO? Probably not, but he seems quite willing to let the Banksters ruin the world economy, so the World Bank can “save” the world economy.
I just threw all this together without editing it and without referring back to notes I’ve taken on ALL the books (dozens) that I’ve read since Obummer “inspired” me to educate myself about politics. I KNOW I don’t have this whole “grand plan” right, but I’m pretty sure I have the main details right. It explains pretty much everything that has happened for the last hundred years.
So, if I’m forgetting how one thing or another fits into this, let me know and I’ll see if I can “fit it in”.
Phil Brewer
Oct. 5, 2010, 10:53 p.m.
Man, that was straight out of Glen Beck. I thought you said you never watch Fox. The only thing you forgot was the part where” the constitution is hanging by a thread” and “the Mormon elders are going to come on a white horse to save the day.” That and the almost complete failure (you did mention the banksters) to mention any possible role that the super-rich class (certain countries, corporations, groups, and individuals) play in any of this. Otherwise, you did Glenn proud.
stevor
Oct. 5, 2010, 11:05 p.m.
Phil,
You are so foolish. Glen Beck is ONE OF THEM! He’s just a ploy to take peoples’ eyes off the real problem, the Power Elite (PE) from taking over the world, and make people “fight” about whether the GOP or the Democrats are better.
BOTH PARTIES are owned by the Power Elite! Both of them want to make the country FASCIST.
But, as I said earlier, you probably don’t read much and either waste your time listening to Beck or waste your time listening to people who talk about how bad Glen Beck, Fox News (which is OWNED by the PE), Limbaugh, and the rest of the CLOWNS are.
NONE of them will bother to INVESTIGATE what happened on 911. None will bother to ask why when the leaders of the world go to the Bilderberger meeting or the Bohemian Grove, the news is more interested in talking about Paris Hilton or other idiot (that YOU probably watch, too)
stevor
Oct. 5, 2010, 11:18 p.m.
Research Smedley Butler. For a starter, I’ll tell you he was one of the most decorated generals and that the Power Elite tried to get him to help overthrow the government. This is NOT some lame story, but DOCUMENTED.
Dan
Oct. 6, 2010, 7:10 a.m.
Stevor, you are an idiot, not to mention paranoid whackadoo.
stevor
Oct. 6, 2010, 9:54 a.m.
So, did you bother to research Smedley Butler? Of course not. As they say, “you can’t handle the truth”.
Unfortunately, there’s MILLIONS of others just like you who still “HOPE” that Obama will “change”. I’d settle for him just being “transparent”!
sirgil
Oct. 6, 2010, 3:04 p.m.
This has been going for decades, ownership in American Business is a scam, unless you own the business, then its the tax code you love and are willing to die for and protect as long as you get your fair tax treatment(meaning legal tax evasion written by lobbyists for Secretaries of Treasury, and appointed Directors of the Service. Every piece of legislation passed in the last 40 years has this famous phrase… “as so determined by and directed by the Secretary of ............., . And as Secs’ of Cabinet serve at discretion of President as approved and appointed a lot goes on behind the scenes that becomes modus of operating verses the laws intent. But as of majority of Americans who has time to look at details. There so boring!
UNLESS your majority of Americans are willing to stand up in the voting line and correct this imbalance all will stay the same. Teabaggers are being duped, and are pawns in the larger game of wealthy directing them to do their will, while they are under the radar.
What conservatives and Republican want are cheap labor, and even better no labor cost, further a take away of government intercession so they can privatize it for more profit going to legal offshore corporate entities where those in charge collect their payoffs, keep it offshore away from tax as unrealized capital gains, and pay the graft necessary to keep the game going. Complex yes but that is the way it is set up, so you tire of it and watch dancing with the stars etc etc etc.
stevor
Oct. 6, 2010, 3:23 p.m.
Sirgil,
Yes, it’s all pretty much a scam as to “ownership” of stocks. Besides that, they manipulate the “value” of stocks, shorting them or whatever, to make the drop, to scare people into selling them, and then they buy to sold stocks for a pittance and get even richer!
Unfortunately, the other “games in town” are real estate (and you saw how they manipulated that) and metals (which they also control the price of).
Don’t dump all Tea Party folks in the same basket, though. Sure, the Tea Party Express (supposedly led by Palin) seems to be run by the GOP but the Tea Party Patriots get NO money from the GOP and ARE the best hope left for stopping the Power Elite from taking over the world.
(of course, there’s already posted two folks in this blog that will be swimming with the rest of the lemmings at the bottom of the cliff and will argue with me).
Hector
Oct. 29, 2010, 8:39 a.m.
Wow Stevor, you should be a “horror movie” script writter.