How companies engage in politics matters

Shareholders & the public are in the dark

Companies need to disclose

This year, the Corporate Reform Coalition is calling on companies to disclose the money they spend engaging in politics to shareholders and the public.

Check out these upcoming shareholder votes on disclosure.
If you own shares in these companies you can cast your votes up until midnight the night before the annual meeting.

FedEx

AGM: September 23, 2019
Shareholder Vote on Election Spending:
Shareholder Vote on Lobbying:

Tweet: The @Teamsters are calling on @FedEx to fully disclose its lobbying activity because there\’s a risk that lobbying activities don\’t line up with stated corporate goals and are not in shareholders\’ best interest. https://bit.ly/2ksu4sl

Click Here to See All of the Shareholder Proposals for 2019

Many companies successfully disclose

Below are a few of the reasons why disclosing political spending & lobbying activity is good for the corporate bottom line

SMART RISK MANAGEMENT

Shareholders deserve to know whether a company has sound policies in place to manage political activity and be able to assess the repetitional risk of that activity.

AVOID A POLITICIAN\'S SHAKEDOWN

In the face of a politician offering special access or corporate- friendly policies in exchange for secret support for the politician\’s or party’s agenda an executive can cite the company’s policy of disclosing its political activity and sidestep any unsavory dealings.

CUSTOMER BACKLASH

Increased transparency can protect against political donations that might trigger a backlash from customers as Americans are paying close attention to which companies have close ties to the President and seem to endorse or not endorse his agenda.

Are your retirement savings protecting secret spending?

The major mutual fund companies like Vanguard have incredible power in corporate elections, power accumulated from the millions of retirement savings accounts they manage. With the volume of shares Vanguard controls the company can and should support shareholder resolutions calling for political spending & lobbying disclosure.

Tell Vanguard to Support Disclosure