SEC chairman Jay Clayton favors a policy that restricts the rights of dissenting shareholders. And guess what? So do ordinary folks! According to a pile of letters Clayton produced, anyway:
But a close look at the seven letters Clayton highlighted, and about two dozen others submitted to the SEC by supposedly regular people, shows they are the product of a misleading — and laughably clumsy — public relations campaign by corporate interests.
That retired teacher? Pauline Yee said she never wrote a letter, although the signature was hers. Those military vets? It turns out they’re the brother and cousin of the chairman of 60 Plus Assn., a Virginia advocacy group paid by corporate supporters of the SEC initiative. That single mom? Data embedded in the electronically submitted letter says someone at 60 Plus wrote it. That retired couple? Their son-in-law runs 60 Plus….Then there’s the public servant Clayton mentioned. Marie Reed’s letter has sharp words for proxy advisors, firms that counsel fund companies on how to vote at shareholder meetings. But when reached by phone in California, the retired state worker said she wasn’t familiar with the term. She said the letter originated with a public affairs firm that contacted her out of the blue.
Welcome to Trumpworld. Always lying and always favoring corporate interests. That’s about all you need to know.
