Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am joined by Senators Perdue, Heitkamp, Tillis, and Jones in introducing the bipartisan Corporate Governance Fairness Act to ensure investors can continue to rely with confidence on the advice of proxy advisory firms by requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate all major proxy advisory firms under the Investment Advisers Act (IAA). This advice is critical for investors as they decide how to vote their shares on important corporate governance matters, such as director elections or whether to sell the company. Indeed, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has stated that the ``independence of the research provided by proxy advisors is a critical element of our right, as shareholders, to hold the board of directors accountable and to cast informed proxy votes on corporate governance and proxy voting policies.'' According to the Council of Institutional Investors, ``ensuring unencumbered shareholder access to independent research is a crucial underpinning of effective corporate governance.'' And the National Association of State Treasurers has emphasized the need to ``maintain the integrity and efficacy of the relationship between institutional investors and proxy advisory firms.'' In short, proxy advisory firms are clearly an essential tool for investors.…”