Oct. 17, 2018
I urge the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to require corporate managers to be honest and transparent with their shareholders, particularly about how they are planning for the long term. Shareholders have a right to know if oil executives are trying to buy off politicians to slow progress on addressing climate change, roll back clean water protections or weaken clean air requirements. They deserve to know if the corporations to which they've entrusted their funds and their future want to defund Social Security and Medicare, stymie progress on health care reform or further deregulate Wall Street. Investors also have a right to know whether the company is cultivating diversity on its board or moving profits abroad to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. These are just a few examples of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks that the SEC should require public companies to disclose to their shareholders and the public. Thank you for considering my comment. Patricia Matejcek