Responsible Investor reported that New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli sent letters to 10 companies (see below) requesting good faith engagement and expressing a commitment to evaluate withdrawal of shareholder proposals in view of the SEC’s recent shift in approach to managing Rule 14a-8 no-action requests.
Opposed to companies’ unilateral exclusion of proposals in the absence of shareholder engagement, according to the article, DiNapoli’s letter implies that unilateral exclusion may prompt the New York State Common Retirement Fund to consider tactics such as litigation, vote-no campaigns, or other “public-facing strategies” that other shareholders who are similarly opposed to the SEC’s change in approach purportedly may consider.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!