SEC Chair Atkins Moves to Eliminate Shareholder Proposal Rule
The SEC is seeking to scrap a rule widely used by activist investors. Chair Paul Atkins calls it a top regulatory priority.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to eliminate a long-standing rule that has served as a primary mechanism for activist shareholders to force corporate votes on social, environmental, and governance issues, according to a report by The New York Times.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins, appointed by President Trump, characterized the push to discard the rule as among his "highest" regulatory priorities, signaling a significant shift in how the agency intends to balance investor rights against corporate management authority.
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The shareholder proposal process has historically allowed investors holding a relatively small stake in a company to place resolutions on annual meeting ballots, giving activists a formal channel to press corporations on issues ranging from climate policy to executive compensation. Eliminating the rule would effectively close that channel, a move likely to draw sharp opposition from institutional investors and advocacy groups who have relied on the mechanism for decades.
The proposed rollback fits within a broader deregulatory posture the current SEC leadership has adopted since Atkins took the helm, as the commission revisits several rules enacted or expanded under the previous administration. Critics argue the move would tilt corporate governance power further toward management and away from shareholders, while supporters contend the proposal process has been exploited for political agendas unrelated to financial performance.
The SEC's formal rulemaking process would require a public comment period before any change takes effect, meaning the existing shareholder proposal framework remains in place for now. Continue reading at NYT > Business.
