Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Owners Who Can’t Hire or Fire
Investors may have hoped that the Securities and Exchange Commission would do the right thing and allow them a much more active role in governance matters at their companies. Ownership usually brings certain rights, after all.
But it seems clearer by the day that in the next month or so, when the commission acts on a rule change relating to director elections, it will instead curtail investor rights. This, by the way, comes, from the agency that calls itself the investor’s advocate.
The battle centers on shareholders’ access to proxy proposals that are voted on by investors at annual meetings. As usual, the combatants are investors who own American companies and the hired hands who run them.
See full Article.