SEC Chair Atkins Moves to Scrap Shareholder Proposal Process
The SEC is seeking to eliminate a rule widely used by activist investors. Chair Paul Atkins calls the effort a top regulatory priority.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing to dismantle a long-standing mechanism that allows shareholders to submit proposals for company votes, a process that activist investors and advocacy groups have relied on for decades to press corporations on governance, environmental, and social issues.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins is driving the effort, describing the move to eliminate the underlying rule as among his "highest" regulatory priorities since taking the helm of the agency. The signal marks one of the most aggressive postures the commission has taken against a tool that has been central to shareholder democracy in the United States.
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The shareholder proposal process has historically allowed investors meeting minimum ownership thresholds to place resolutions before a company's full shareholder base, giving smaller stakeholders a formal avenue to challenge corporate leadership on issues ranging from executive pay to climate risk. Scrapping the rule would effectively close that channel.
The push reflects a broader shift in the commission's orientation under Atkins, who has indicated a preference for reducing regulatory burdens on corporations. Critics of the move are expected to argue that eliminating the process would concentrate power further in the hands of corporate management and diminish investor voice in boardrooms across the country.
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