SEC proposes giving US shareholders more power
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed yesterday giving shareholders greater power to nominate corporate board directors, a process now tightly controlled by company management.
Amid a push by investor groups for greater accountability by corporate America, the SEC voted 3-2 to propose two approaches aimed at giving shareholders an easier way to influence the composition of the board. One approach would let shareholders who own one per cent to five per cent of a company’s stock for at least one year nominate directors.
The other approach would overturn a 2007 SEC decision, enabling companies to exclude shareholder proposals for director nominations from corporate ballots, and allow them to nominate directors.