U.S. Chamber and Business Roundtable Applaud Court’s Decision to Vacate Proxy Access Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable issued a response today after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proxy access rule.
“This is a big win for America’s job creators and investors,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We applaud the court’s decision to prevent special interest politics from being injected into the boardroom. Companies and directors need to continue to focus on the important work of creating jobs and reviving our economy. Today’s decision also sends a strong message that regulators need to meet their statutory requirement to clearly prove that the benefits of regulation outweigh the costs.”
“We’re very pleased with the court’s unanimous decision,” said Sandy Cutler, Chairman & CEO of Eaton Corporation and Chairman of Business Roundtable’s Corporate Leadership initiative. “By vacating the rule, the court has effectively placed great importance on the long-term interests of shareholders and businesses alike. The judges agreed with Business Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce that the Commission failed to do what was required and that’s to consider the rule’s impact on efficiency, competition and capital formation. This ruling will help company management and boards pay attention to the creation of long-term shareholder value under strong and transparent rules of corporate governance.”
Since its inception in 2007, the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness has led a bipartisan effort to modernize and strengthen the outmoded regulatory systems that have governed our capital markets. The CCMC is committed to working aggressively with the administration, Congress, and global leaders to implement reforms to strengthen the economy, restore investor confidence, and ensure well-functioning capital markets.
The National Chamber Litigation Center is the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.
Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 12 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay more than 60 percent of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government. Annually, they pay more than $167 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy. Please visit us at www.brt.org, check us out on Facebook and LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter.
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