Hill hearing looks at SEC proposals to limit stockholder resolutions

Published: 2007-09-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Religious groups and other investment consortiums whose portfolios include many of the corporations whose stock is traded on Wall Street found a sympathetic ear Sept. 27 in the House Committee on Financial Services at a hearing it held on Capitol Hill. The investment groups have been gathering support against a couple of Securities and Exchange Commission proposals that would, among other things, restrict the ability of shareholders to offer resolutions at annual stockholders meetings. The resolutions have covered such diverse ground as South Africa, pollution and climate change and urge corporate action on issues advocates want to see addressed. Few resolutions actually garner a majority of the votes, but companies often bargain with the shareholder groups to avoid an embarrassing vote. At the hearing Timothy Smith, chairman of the board of the Social Investment Forum and senior vice president of Walden Asset Management Co., testified: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says this all the time about advocates who raise questions about corporate governance: We are special interest groups who have no interest in shareholder value. It's a transparent myth used to marginalize opponents (that means) 'I don't like the issue you're raising, therefore you're a special interest group,'" he said.

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