WASHINGTON AP – Federal securities regulators appear primed to allow companies to bar shareholders from access to ballots for board elections, a move that major pension funds and governance advocates say could make corporations less responsive to investors’ interests.
The shareholder rights issue is one of the most controversial to come before the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent years, generating more than 34,000 comment letters to the agency. The vacancy of a Democratic seat on the five-member panel has added to the friction. Democrat Roel Campos, who left in September, likely would have voted to adopt a proposal making it easier and cheaper for dissident shareholders to elect candidates they back to a company’s board.
