In the context of increased scrutiny by proxy advisors and investors (among others) of corporate political spending and lobbying practices and disclosure, Sullivan & Cromwell's "Corporate Political Contributions" suggests that companies carefully consider their practices and disclosure, and that boards that haven't already done so add this topic to their oversight agenda. According to the Center for Political Accountability-Zicklin "2020 Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability," which benchmarks S&P 500 corporate political spending practices and disclosure, 259 of the S&P 500 had policies for general board oversight of political spending in 2020 - up from 215 in 2015. Committee review of different aspects of political spending also has been on the rise, as shown here:The firm also notes the uptick in corporate political contribution/lobbying proposals and associated shareholder support, which we recently reported on here.
See our recent report: "Annual Meeting/Proxy Prep: Political Contributions & Disclosure"; the updated CPA-Wharton Zicklin Model Code of Conduct for Corporate Political Spending; our prior report: "BlackRock Seeks Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending & Activities"; and additional resources on our Political Contributions & Disclosure topical page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!