Securities and Exchange Commissioner Annette Nazareth, the only remaining Democrat on the Commission, has joined a growing chorus of voices who have said it would be unwise for the SEC to decide whether or not to allow shareholders agreater say in the compositions of boards of directors, Jeremy Grant ofFinancial Times reported today.
The issue on proxy access has evolved into one of the mostcontentious in recent years for the SEC, and the Commission has floated two opposingproposals on whether or not shareholders should be allowed to proposeamendments to a certain company’s bylaws, subsequently allowing them to choosewho could be elected to the board.
One of the two proposals would allow proxy access if ashareholder has held five percent or more of a company’s shares for more than12 months, while the other clarifies that the SEC could allow companies toexclude such bylaw amendments, FT reported.
In opposing the move to vote, Nazareth joins agroup who share her concerns that include Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, recently said it would be unwise for the SEC to decide on shareholder rightswith limited democratic presence on the five-commissioner panel after RoelCampos resigned last month; Nazareth shortly after announced her plans tofollow suit, though she has yet to determine when. Both have voted in favor of the five-percentproposal.
“Under the circumstances, this seems a particularlyinopportune time for the commission to be considering issues of this magnitudeand divisiveness,”
Regardless, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said last week thathe has every intention of moving forward, as the panel’s current Republican-dominant statusis independent of whether or not a vote can be made, and would like to see adecision made in time for the next proxy season.