Senate Banking Committee Opposes SEC Push for Vote on Shareholder Rights

The call for the Securities Exchange Commission to hold off on voting on two proposals regarding shareholder rights grew louder last week, when members of the Senate Banking Committee joined in, reports Dow Jones.

Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and eight other Democrats on the Senate Panel gave their two cents on the matter Thursday in a letter they sent to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox recommending that the Commission take no action for now on the proposals – rules involving shareholders’ ability to place the names of their choices for corporate boards on company-provided company ballots.

“Shareholders are the owners of a public company and have a right to meaningfully participate in electing directors without incurring an undue cost of a separate proxy solicitation,” the letter to Cox said, according to Investment News.

The Senate Banking Committee’s advice joins in with others who have said it would be unwise to move forward with the proposals with limited democratic presence on the SEC’s Commissioner’s panel, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA).  Meanwhile, Commissioner Annette Nazareth, the only current Democrat on the Commissioner’s panel now that Roel Campos has since resigned, has also planned to leave the SEC soon, and has advised against the Commission moving forward with the proxy access issue.

Regardless, Cox appeared to reject the idea last week, according to Dow Jones, an act that may potentially set the stage for a showdown with lawmakers who oversee the SEC and those groups seeking expanded proxy access.

“Investors are not protected if we do absolutely nothing,” Cox told reporters, according to Dow Jones.