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Showing posts from August, 2010

Proxy Access Granted! (Sandy Wu, CIR Intern and MSF program, GWU)

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted this morning to adopt changes to the federal proxy and other rules to facilitate director nominations by shareholders by allowing shareholders to more easily nominate directors to corporate boards. This will definitely change the balance of power between general investors and management at many U.S. companies. This is the fourth time the SEC considered questions about proxy access over the past few years. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act finally confirmed the Commission’s authority to resolve the issue. “The proxy is often the principal means for shareholders and public companies to communicate with one another, and for shareholders to weigh in on issues of importance to the corporation,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. The rule was passed on a 3-2 vote, with two Republican commissioners, Troy Paredes and Kathleen Casey, opposing. “The rule is fundamentally and fatally flawed, and it will have great diff