Investors Applaud Federal Court Decision Denying Suspension of Conflict Mineral Reporting Rule
MAY 15, 2014: Investors welcome the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to deny trade associations’ request for a temporary stay of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conflict minerals reporting rule for Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Many companies, including those with complex global supply chains, have demonstrated the willingness and ability to comply with the rule by conducting due diligence and preparing disclosures. The SEC has made clear that it expects companies to file reports by the June 2 deadline, and yesterday’s court decision eliminates any …
Bloomberg: SEC Probes Threat from Cyber Attacks Against Wall Street
Bloomberg has published an article about the SEC Cybersecurity Roundtable which took place on March 26, 2014 in Washington, DC. Trillium’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy, Jonas Kron, was a panelist at the roundtable. Dave Michaels and Chris Strohm write: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the exposure of stock exchanges, brokerages and other Wall Street firms to cyber-attacks that have been called a threat to financial stability… [The] event was spurred by SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, who today called for the agency to establish a cybersecurity task force… Companies’ public reports so far about cyber-attacks have mostly …
Trillium’s Jonas Kron to be Panelist at SEC Cybersecurity Roundtable
March 25, 2014: Jonas Kron, Trillium’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy, will be a panelist at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s March 26th roundtable on the issues and challenges cybersecurity presents for market participants and public companies. The roundtable will be divided into four panels. Participants on the first panel will discuss the cybersecurity landscape. Jonas will be a member of the second panel which will discuss cybersecurity disclosure issues faced by public companies. Participants on the third panel will discuss the cybersecurity issues faced by exchanges and other key market systems. On the final panel, participants will discuss how broker-dealers, …
Ceres Releases New Report: The SEC and Corporate Climate Change Reporting 2010-2013
February 10, 2014 / / BOSTON, MA: Ceres released a new report on Securities & Exchange Commission actions to improve corporate disclosure of material climate risks and opportunities, finding that the SEC has not prioritized this issue. The report, Cool Response: The SEC and Corporate Climate Change Reporting, surveyed SEC comment letters sent to companies since 2010, when the SEC recognized the financial impacts of climate change by issuing Interpretive Guidance on climate disclosure. It found that only three comment letters related to climate change were issued in 2012 and 2013, and 49 in 2010 and 2011, following the issuance …
Trillium Wins Significant Victory in Net Neutrality Fight
Trillium Asset Management and other socially responsible investors have won a significant victory in the fight for net neutrality. After years of denial, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that investors will have the opportunity to press Internet Service Providers (ISPs) AT&T, Verizon and Sprint to adopt policies that would insure their neutral handling of all Internet content regardless of the sender, recipient or nature of the content. The companies had sought to block shareholders from voting on the proposals by arguing, among other things, that network neutrality was not a “significant public policy issue.” The SEC rejected that …
"Chevron chiefs face shareholders after huge $18bn Ecuador fine"
Shelley Alpern, Trillium’s Director of ESG Research and Shareholder Advocacy, was quoted in guardian.co.uk on May 25, 2011: “The Ecuadorian courts are but one step away from seizing Chevron’s assets to pay for the record $18bn judgment. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to hope that a settlement agreement might be brokered that comes in below this extraordinary amount, puts funds to work immediately restoring the polluted areas, and helps Chevron put this reputational disaster behind it.” Click here to read the article. Click here to read Trillium’s press release about the request made to the SEC to review Chevron’s shareholder disclosures. …
SEC Passes Proxy Access Rule
August 25, 2010 — This just in from the Social Investment Forum: Dear members, In a widely anticipated three-two vote along party lines, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today enacted a new rule 14a-11 granting shareholder access to the proxy, following more than three decades of debate. The new rule, however, includes some significant changes from the draft rule the SEC posted on June 10, 2009, which received more than 600 comments. The biggest change is on ownership thresholds and holding requirements. The ownership thresholds, originally 1 percent for large-cap, 3 percent for mid-cap, and 5 percent for the …
Shareholder Activists Win Important Victory at SEC
Jonas Kron What a difference a change in Administration makes. Champagne corks popped in the offices of socially concerned shareholders all throughout the land in October, when, with a few strokes of the pen, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) restored a necessary dose of common sense to the shareholder resolution process that lacking in the Bush years. To appreciate the change, a little background is necessary. When filers of shareholder resolutions send off a resolution to a company, said company will typically scrutinize it to see if it conforms to rules governing such proposals, rules that are enforced by …
SEC Issues Ground-Breaking Guidance on Climate Change Risk Disclosure
[We’re pleased to excerpt this press release from Ceres, the Investor Network on Climate Risk and the Environmental Defense Fund. Trillium Asset Management Corporation participated heavily in the lobbying efforts that lead to this breakthrough.] Contact: Peyton Fleming, Ceres, 617-733-6660 or fleming@ceres.org Steve Tripoli, Ceres, 617-247-0700 x155 or tripoli@ceres.org Sharyn Stein, EDF, 202-572-3396 or sstein@edf.org Download the Ceres/EDF Fact Sheet – SEC: Companies Must Disclose Climate Risks & Opportunities Leading Investors Hail Today’s Landmark Decision WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 27, 2010) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today issued new interpretive guidance that clarifies what publicly-traded companies need to disclose …
SEC: Companies Can No Longer Bury the Lede on Shareholder Votes
December 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission moved to finalize a new rule that requires companies to disclose annual meeting voting results within four business days after the annual meeting. Trillium argued vigorously in support of this rule change because we believe the value of vote totals is greatest immediately after the annual meeting. This is when media interest is usually highest and delays only put the issue farther from shareholders’ minds. In fact we have witnessed occasions when it appears that companies are dragging their feet in an effort to minimize or marginalize strong expressions of support for …
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