(Reuters) – The acting chair of the U.S. securities regulator is pushing for clearer disclosures on how asset managers cast shareholder votes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Securities and Exchange Commission acting chair Allison Herren Lee plans to say in a speech on Wednesday disclosure rules have failed to help everyday investors, calling voting information “unwieldy” and “difficult to understand, according to the report.
Top asset managers now file only limited details to the SEC about how they vote for the shares they oversee for investors and can give up their rights to vote in exchange for fees when they lend out shares to short-sellers. Many did so for GameStop Corp, a year before a short-selling rally driven by interest from retail investors on social media
The acting chair said on Monday the agency will revisit controversial rules on climate and on proxy voting.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)