Since the great credit crisis, the SEC has had its hands full. Among other things, the Commission had to deal with regulatory flaws Madoff exposed, the public outcry to reign in dastardly short sellers, the massive leverage employed by Wall Street, and the market’s underlying structure that is apparently allowing high frequency traders to print money all day long.
It is no surprise they have not focused on encouraging retail investors to actively participate in the proxy voting process. There have just been bigger fires to put out.
But, it is encouraging to see that they prominently displayed a link to Proxy Matters on their homepage in the Spotlight section. Behind this link, the SEC says the proxy voting process is a primary way that investors can “make their views known to company management.”
Perhaps this issue is moving closer to the forefront of their agenda. Since poor corporate governance is the root cause of many problems we have experienced in the last decade, we hope they take a long hard look at it.
Yes, two cheers to the SEC for finally getting something posted about the importance of proxy voting. However, admonitions do very little compared to providing information or links to those offering voting advice, such as MoxyVote.com. I e-mailed my concerns to the SEC, and received a message that they were noted. I urge everyone to voice the same concern at https://tts.sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.htm…
Jim,
Great suggestion!
Thanks,
Mark
Point well made James. I sent along my recommendation to the SEC as well.