ASA Applauds House Judiciary Hearing on Proxy Advisors

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee outlining its recommended proxy advisory reforms as the Committee holds a hearing entitled "The Proxy Advisor Duopoly's Anticompetitive Conduct."

"ASA Applauds Chairman Fitzgerald and the House Judiciary Committee for continuing Congress' efforts to expose how the foreign-owned proxy advisory firms have used America’s capital markets to advance a political agenda that has cost America’s working families, retirees, and savers millions of dollars," said ASA President and CEO Chris Iacovella. “We look forward to working with Congress and the SEC to hold the proxy advisors accountable."

In the letter, ASA outlined its concerns about the proxy advisors conflicted business model and recommended policy solutions including:

• Subjecting the recommendations of proxy advisory firms to the SEC’s antifraud rules;
  

• Requiring enhanced disclosure of proxy advisory firm conflicts of interest; and
  

• Providing public companies with an opportunity to review and respond to proxy advisor vote recommendations.

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The American Securities Association (ASA) represents the retail and institutional capital markets interests of regional financial services firms who provide Main Street businesses with access to capital and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. ASA’s mission is to promote trust and confidence among investors, facilitate capital formation, and support efficient and competitively balanced capital markets. This mission advances financial independence, stimulates job creation, and increases prosperity. The ASA has a geographically diverse membership of almost one hundred members that spans the Heartland, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States.