VOTES AT ANNUAL MEETINGS
Shareholders call for US lobbying disclosure
Votes are set to take place at more than 40 annual meetings, including those for Boeing, Wells Fargo, Ford, General Electric and Facebook
New York — Dozens of major US companies are facing shareholder votes this spring that seek to require more disclosure about political lobbying, as activists demand greater corporate transparency. Votes are set to take place at more than 40 annual meetings, including those for Boeing, Wells Fargo, Ford, General Electric and Facebook. Many proposals have been offered before and predate the political debates that dominated the US with the rise and election of President Donald Trump. But whether or not they have anything to do with broader political dynamics, early tallies show more investors want to know about corporate spending on lobbying. About 37% of Disney’s shareholders voted in favour of a measure on this issue, up 5% from 2016’s outcome, while Monsanto’s vote came in at about 28%, up 7.5% from a year ago. There were also modest increases at Emerson Electric and Tyson Foods. While still a minority of shareholders, these counts are high enough to force management to take notice, ...
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