Subject: File No. S7-07-13
From: Claire Garden

October 13, 2013

I support Dodd-Frank rule 953(b), which strikes me as being all about the intersection of pay equity and investor value.

American workers are more productive than ever, but that really means workers are having to put in more hours to replace those who were let go.  Year after year, studies show working Americans work longer hours for less pay, even as CEO pay balloons and corporate profits soar.  What's more, worker owned businesses prove that CEOs don't add much and can be eliminated without hurting the business.

Disclosing corporate pay ratios between CEOs and average employees will finally show which corporations are driving this trend, which siphons money away from investors, and into the pockets of CEOs. In 1990, senior executive pay absorbed 5 percent of corporate profits. Today, according to Government Metrics International, it absorbs 10 percent.

Fairer pay structures mean stronger companies and a stronger economy – both of which are important to me as a consumer and as an investor.

No doubt there are a select few who benefit from the status quo of keeping the pay disparities undisclosed. Stand firm, and implement the law as written.

Thank you for considering my comment,

Claire Garden

Columbia, MO