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New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer's creative effort to give shareholders more power to nominate board candidates will be an uphill battle, but community banks are taking it seriously and larger banks may ultimately have to do so, too.
November 14 -
River Valley Bancorp could face a challenge from an investor who is upset over some of the Madison, Ind., companys policies and procedures.
September 24 -
Capital One Financial in McLean, Va., has been hit with an enforcement action by federal regulators for deficiencies in anti-money laundering compliance that were connected to a former check-cashing business.
August 5
Capital One Financial has allowed shareholders to nominate candidates to the company's board of directors, joining a spate of large U.S. companies moving to open access to proxy ballots.
The $311 billion-asset company in McLean, Va., will allow shareholders who own at least 3% of its outstanding common stock to
Capital One notified investors of the move in a Tuesday regulatory filing. Capital One said it approved the changes after members of its senior management team met with stockholders. It didn't identify the shareholders. Capital One spokeswoman Julie Rakes declined to comment.
Capital One and Bank of America are two U.S. banks that have adopted a so-called proxy-access measure. Additionally,
In the face of shareholder pressure, several companies in recent months have made similar moves, including General Electric, Microsoft and Chevron. More than 80
Some large institutional investors, including New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, have supported the trend for proxy access. Many bank executives, however, oppose it.
"I am completely opposed to it," Ron Paul, chairman and chief executive of the $5.8 billion-asset EagleBank in Bethesda, Md., said in November. "Shareholders, if they don't like the way [a bank] is being run, they can sell their stock."
It's probably a good idea to communicate with shareholders about the issue, said Charles Elson, an expert in corporate governance at the University of Delaware in Newark.
"A lot of institutional shareholders have made it a goal this year to make proxy access adopted in companies throughout the United States," Elson said. "It's better at this point to reach out to your shareholders … before the shareholders create a plan for you."
