About a dozen institutional investors plan to file shareholder resolutions with about 30 major corporations, calling on them to disclose and explain the business rationale of political contributions made with corporate funds, according to a report released today by the Center for Political Accountability. The proposals also seek to identify the corporate officers involved in the donation decisions.
"Corporate secrecy on political contributions harms shareholders by denying them information critical for evaluating management performance and company behavior," according to the study. Also, "company disclosure of corporate political contributions could alert shareholders to signs of possible management, reputational and financial problems that could depress a company's stock price."
