Washington – “Business Roundtable opposes Rep. Maxine Waters’ recent amendment to the Investor Protection Act of 2009. This amendment gives the SEC the authority to adopt a federal minimum proxy access right that will inevitably obstruct the ability of management and boards to focus on long-term, sustainable growth and value creation for shareholders and employees by promoting a focus on short-term gains, one of the causes of the current economic crisis.

Additionally, the amendment is a serious pre-emption of state corporate law, the bedrock of corporate governance, and would allow disparate special interests to sidetrack corporate boards through politicization of the director election process. We believe that a far better alternative would be to permit shareholders to include proxy access shareholder proposals in company proxy materials.

“We urge the House Financial Services Committee to bear in mind the many other avenues for shareholder input and reject Rep. Waters’ amendment. We will continue to work with lawmakers on corporate governance reform that will promote long-term economic growth by protecting the ability of U.S. businesses to innovate, create jobs and build shareholder value,” said John J. Castellani, President of Business Roundtable.