Fix Wells Fargo’s Failure To Disclose Corporate Lobbying
This text is an excerpt from a Voluntary Submission to Wells Fargo Company Shareholders urging them to vote FOR Item 12 at the Shareholder Meeting on April 30, 2024: (read the full original shareholder notice here)
To Wells Fargo Shareholders:
I urge shareholders to vote FOR Item 12 at the shareholder meeting.
The proposal asks Wells Fargo to prepare an annual report on its lobbying.
| Resolved, the shareholders of Wells Fargo request the preparation of a report, updated annually, disclosing:
1. Company policy and procedures governing lobbying, both direct and indirect, and grassroots lobbying communications. 2. Payments by Wells Fargo used for (a) direct or indirect lobbying or (b) grassroots lobbying communications, in each case including the amount of the payment and the recipient. 3. Wells Fargo’s membership in and payments to any tax-exempt organization that writes and endorses model legislation. 4. Description of management’s and the Board’s decision-making process and oversight for making payments described above. |
The proposal is part of an ongoing investor campaign for greater corporate political spending and lobbying disclosure. Transparency and accountability in corporate spending to influence public policy are in the best interests of Wells Fargo shareholders. Without a clear system ensuring accountability, corporate assets can be used to promote public policy objectives which can pose risks to Wells Fargo’s reputation and shareholder value.
Wells Fargo should commit to corporate political responsibility by increasing its transparency by disclosing all of its third-party spending to influence public policy. In this letter, I will show support for this proposal is warranted because:
1. Reputation is an important component of shareholder value;
2. Wells Fargo’s current disclosures are inadequate;
3. Dark money spending through trade associations and social welfare groups presents unknown risks; and
4. Wells Fargo could easily provide details of its lobbying in an annual report to investors.
Read the full original shareholder notice here
