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Washington, DC -Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, released the following statement in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision today to restrict shareholder access to company proxies:
“I am disappointed by the Commission’s action today to restrict shareholder access to company proxies. The amendments to the Commission’s proxy rules will leave shareholders with inadequate recourse to influence insular boards that are unresponsive to shareholder concerns, by effectively precluding shareholders from proposing changes to director election procedures. I believe the Commission should have waited until it was at full membership and was able to deal comprehensively with the issue of proxy access. There was no need to take this piecemeal approach to a problem that should be dealt with comprehensively, as the Commission itself has recognized by proposing broader changes to the proxy access rules. The result of today’s vote is a step backwards for shareholders, as evidenced in part by the thousands of comments received in opposition to the rule, primarily from those representing shareholder interests.
“I agree with Commissioner Nazareth’s views on the rule, and I want to thank her for her service on the Commission, and in particular for her diligent, thoughtful, and resolute pursuit of appropriate corporate governance and proxy access for shareholders.”
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