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CPA in the News

May 26, 2013 Shedding Light on the Role of �Dark Money� in Corruption May 26, 2013
The Financial Times
by Sarah Murray
Corporate political spending has risen sharply since the US Supreme Court�s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case removed limits on the donations political groups can accept from companies. Since then, unease has grown at... more

Apr 30, 2013 Shareholders Push Companies to Disclose Political Spending, Reform Group, CPA Says April 30, 2013
BNA Money and Politics Report
by Kenneth Doyle
The health insurance company WellCare Health Plans Inc. recently joined a handful of other companies that have seen a majority vote of shareholders supporting disclosure of corporate political spending, according... more

Apr 27, 2013 Plan Would Force Public Companies to Reveal Political Giving April 27, 2013
NPR
by Kara Brandeisky
The 2012 election was the most expensive in history, but there remain some gaping holes in our knowledge about who paid for what. The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a proposal to add more transparency in future... more

Apr 23, 2013 S.E.C Is Asked to Make Companies Disclose Donations April 23, 2013
The New York Times
by Nicholas Confessore
A loose coalition of Democratic elected officials, shareholder activists and pension funds has flooded the Securities and Exchange Commission with calls to require publicly traded corporations to disclose to... more

Apr 22, 2013 News Corp Deal: A New Way to Police Corporate Political Spending? April 22, 2013
Thompson Reuters
by Alison Frankel
On Monday, the directors and officers of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp agreed to settle a derivative suit accusing them of breaching their duty to shareholders by failing to avert the phone-hacking scandal at the company's... more

Apr 4, 2013 Companies Face Pressure on Political Spending April 4, 2013
USA Today
by Fredreka Schouten
Campaign-finance activists and some of the nation's biggest institutional investors are trying to exert fresh pressure on the Securities and Exchange Commission to force public companies to disclose their political spending. If... more

Mar 26, 2013 Issuers Can Take Proactive Steps to Avoid Targeting for Political Spending Disclosures March 26, 2013
BNA Money and Politics Report
by Yin Wilczek
Public companies that want to avoid being targeted publicly by institutional investors and other activists with respect to political spending disclosures can take proactive steps to mitigate their exposure,... more

Mar 17, 2013 What Boards Need to Know About Political Accountability March 17, 2013
The Corporate Governance Alliance Digest
by Sol Kwon
Board oversight of political spending is essential to ensure that spending decisions are made in the best interests of the company and its shareholders; protect companies from reputational risks; and do not... more

Mar 4, 2013 Does It Pay to Mix Politics, Business? Some Saying No March 4, 2013
Seattle Times
by Jim Spencer
The fight over corporate political donations is evolving from whether such gifts are in the public�s interest to whether they�re even in the interest of the companies. A pair of University of Minnesota finance professors found... more

Feb 23, 2013 Obama's New Political Group to Lure Unlimited Donations February 23, 2013
Washington Post
by Tom Hamburger
In close consultation with President Obama, two of his top political strategists are designing an ambitious new organization funded by donations from wealthy individuals and corporations aimed at making political and... more

Feb 16, 2013 Research Questions Return on Corporate Political Cash February 16, 2013
Minneapolis Star Tribune
by Jim Spencer
The fight over corporate political donations is evolving from whether such gifts are in the public�s interest to whether they�re even in the interest of the companies themselves. A pair of University of Minnesota... more

Feb 7, 2013 Shareholders Question Corporate Political Spending February 7, 2013
MarketWatch
by Darrell Delamaide
Conventional wisdom has it in the wake of November�s election that Citizens United was a paper tiger and that unrestricted corporate spending on campaigns did not determine the outcome � but investors may want to take a... more

Feb 3, 2013 Corporations Agree to Disclose Political Spending February 3, 2013
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
The Center for Political Accountability announces that engagement has led to six corporations agreeing to adopt political disclosure and accountability, while a shareowner resolution at Visa gains significant support.... more

Jan 9, 2013 What's Behind All the Corporate Secrecy Over Political Spending? January 9, 2013
Fortune
by Eleanor Bloxham
While millions of unemployed struggle to keep hope, corporations shelled out millions on election attack ads last year. Individual companies are still not fessing up on how their millions were spent. What do they have to hide?... more

Jan 3, 2013 New York Comptroller Sues Qualcomm for Data on Political Giving January 3, 2013
The New York Times
by Nicholas Confessore
The New York State comptroller, attempting to force greater public disclosure of corporate political spending, sued Qualcomm on Wednesday, demanding to view internal records of political expenditures by the company,... more

Dec 14, 2012 Meaningful Corporate Political Disclosure December 14, 2012
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance
by Noam Noked
In the aftermath of the most expensive election cycle in U.S. history, which included record amounts of �Dark Money,� the need for transparency in corporate political spending is even more... more

Nov 17, 2012 Is It Worth It? Political Spending and Corporate Governance November 17, 2012
Business Ethics Magazine
by Robert Ludke
In the 2012 campaign cycle an astounding $6 billion dollars was spent, with American corporations contributing roughly one third of that total. Just as political pundits are assessing the aftermath of the campaigns,... more

Nov 8, 2012 For Chamber of Commerce, Election Was a Money-Loser November 8, 2012
Washington Post
by Jia Lynn Yang and Tom Hamburger
The day after an election in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent millions of dollars backing losing Republican candidates, executives began the brutal process of assessing what went wrong at the... more

Nov 6, 2012 Corporate America Gets Feisty November 6, 2012
Fortune
by Anne VanderMey
In an election season that's given voters many firsts, we can add public sniping and fact-checking by blue-chip companies to the list. Last week's dustup between the Romney camp and Detroit automakers started with what seemed like... more

Nov 6, 2012 Get What You Pay For? Not Always November 6, 2012
The New York Times
by Eduardo Porter
The most expensive election campaign in American history is over. Executives across America can now begin to assess what their companies will get in return for the roughly $2 billion spent by business interests.... more

Oct 29, 2012 Aetna's Transparency Problem October 29, 2012
The Hill
by Melanie Sloan
So far this month, the American Action Network (AAN) has poured more than $10 million into ad buys in six congressional districts � part of a last-minute October spending dump explicitly aimed at preserving the Republican majority... more

Oct 29, 2012 Examining the CPA-Zicklin Scoring Index for Corporate Political Spending Reports October 29, 2012
Davis Polk Briefing
by Ning Chiu
The coming election coincides with increased efforts by the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), through letters and shareholder proposal campaigns, to cause companies to provide reports on corporate political spending.... more

Oct 22, 2012 What Sustainability Reports Don't Tell You October 22, 2012
The Daily Beast
by Aaron Chatterji and Michael Toffel
Environmental rankings are based on extensive research about companies� environmental management processes and performance, and how transparent they are about their environmental impacts. However, we�re... more

Oct 19, 2012 Corporate Donors Fuel Chamber of Commerce's Political Power October 19, 2012
Washington Post
by Carol Leonnig
Major U.S. companies as diverse as the drugmaker Merck, the chemical giant Dow and the financial services firm Prudential wrote big checks � some for more than $1 million � to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year for dues... more

Oct 18, 2012 Citizens United: Are Shareholder Revolts in the Offing? October 18, 2012
Forbes
by Richard Levick
There�s now reason to feel good � or at least a bit better � about Citizens United, the landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political expenditures by... more

Oct 6, 2012 How British Companies Pour Cash Into the American Elections October 6, 2012
The Guardian
by Simon Bowers
More than one in five of Britain's largest corporations are channelling political donations to favoured candidates ahead of next month's elections in the US � though these sums may be only the tip of a new campaign-financing... more

Sep 26, 2012 More Companies Revealing Donations as Debate Rages September 26, 2012
Washington Post
by Dan Eggen
As debate rages this year over the increasing influence of corporations on politics, a new study finds that more companies are deciding to disclose their contributions to interest groups in the hope of avoiding controversy.... more

Sep 25, 2012 Aflac and Chubb Join Ranks of Companies Expanding Disclosure September 25, 2012
Bloomberg News
by Jonathan Salant
Aflac Inc. (AFL) and Chubb Corp. (CB) are among a growing number of companies revealing their corporate contributions, some of which may go to nonprofits and trade associations spending millions of dollars on U.S.... more

Sep 25, 2012 In Election Swamped by Secret Money, Corporations Choose Openness September 25, 2012
Chicago Tribune
by Melanie Mason
Undisclosed political money is playing an outsize role in the 2012 election cycle. But as some political donors are seeking to hide their identities, a new study has found that at least one set of contributors �... more

Sep 25, 2012 Report Ranks Corporate Political Openness September 25, 2012
Politico
by Dave Levinthal
In an era of record-setting election spending, don�t expect massive corporations such as Berkshire Hathaway, Charles Schwab and Cardinal Health to volunteer one iota more information about their political activity than they must.... more

Sep 18, 2012 Responsible Wealth Targets Being Selected September 18, 2012
CorpGov.net
by James McRitchie
Fall is filing time for Responsible Wealth�s annual shareholder resolutions. Currently, Mike Lapham is working with the Center for Political Accountability to identify which corporations Responsible Wealth will file... more

Jul 20, 2012 Third-Party Groups Ready Multiple Ads Attacking Health Care Law July 20, 2012
Washington Post
by Dan Eggen
Conservative groups are gearing up to spend millions of dollars over the next three months on ads attacking President Obama�s health-care law and Democrats who support it, but in many cases voters will have no way of knowing who... more

Jul 9, 2012 Can Shareholder Activism Affect Corporate Political Spending? July 9, 2012
Thomson Reuters
by Alison Frankel
The New York Times had a great front-page story on Sunday about corporations contributing to politically active non-profits in order to shield their campaign contributions from public view. That's not a revelatory thesis -- I've... more

Jul 7, 2012 Tax-Exempt Groups Shield Political Gifts of Businesses July 7, 2012
The New York Times
by Mike McIntire and Nick Confessore
American Electric Power, one of the country�s largest utilities, gave $1 million last November to the Founding Fund, a new tax-exempt group that intends to raise most of its money from corporations and push... more

Jul 3, 2012 Shareowners Await Support From Legislators and Regulators in Addressing Corporate Political Spending July 3, 2012
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
Shareowner resolutions addressing corporate political expenditures have gained unprecedented support during this proxy season, as investors concerned about the risks to corporations of unregulated political spending have filed... more

Jul 1, 2012 The Great Debate July 1, 2012
Corporate Counsel
by Sue Reisinger
In May, 3M Corp. faced activists both inside and outside its shareholder meeting who were angry about 3M's alleged secret spending on political campaigns. The firm wasn't alone. Some 14 companies faced a surprising number of... more

Jun 8, 2012 Shareholders Campaign for Transparency June 8, 2012
The Motley Fool
by Alyce Lomax
Many investors are watching say-on-pay votes this year. American Eagle Outfitters is one of the latest companies to experience a rejection of its CEO pay policy by shareholders, but there are many others that have experienced the... more

May 21, 2012 More Shareholders Call on Companies to Disclose Their Political Spending May 21, 2012
Washington Post
by Tom Hamburger and Brady Dennis
One of the most polarizing fights over money in politics has been unfolding this spring at annual corporate meetings, where shareholders are mounting an intensifying effort to push companies to disclose the money... more

May 15, 2012 Remarks from Conference Board Corporate Political Spending Conference May 15, 2012
The Conference Board
by Bruce Freed
Remarks from Bruce Freed, on the panel "The Battle Over Corporate Political Activity: Left Wing Plot, Good Governance, or Both?" at The Conference Board's Corporate Political Spending Conference on May 15, 2012. more

May 8, 2012 WellPoint Faces Shareholder Ire Over Political Spending May 8, 2012
Fortune Magazine
by Eleanor Bloxham
This year marks the first presidential election year since the January 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United, which opened the floodgates on corporate political spending. So it's not too surprising that oversight and... more

Apr 26, 2012 Some Shareholders Call for Companies to Disclose Political Giving April 26, 2012
Minnesota Public Radio
by Catharine Richert
This spring, shareholders of Minnesota's most well-known companies will vote on board members and various proposals from shareholders � standard annual meeting fare. But for at least five local companies, the hot... more

Apr 25, 2012 Google, Marriott, UPS Pick Sides in 2012 Election April 25, 2012
ABC News
by Amy Bingham
As Americans begin to divide down party lines over their presidential preferences in the 2012 election, so too are many of the country's largest corporations. more

Apr 24, 2012 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Faces Changing Times April 24, 2012
Roll Call
by Eliza Newlin Carney
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue had much to celebrate when the business lobby marked its centennial last weekend. He also had cause for alarm. more

Apr 19, 2012 WellPoint Is Focus of Aggressive Effort to Force Political Spending Disclosure April 19, 2012
Washington Post
by Tom Hamburger
Health insurance giant WellPoint is the latest target of an increasingly aggressive campaign to force disclosure of corporate political and lobbying expenditures, including payments to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has... more

Apr 19, 2012 More Boardrooms Targeted for Political Spending April 19, 2012
Market Watch
by Ronald D. Orol
Should public companies be up front with shareholders about their political agendas? More institutional investors are agitating for corporations to disclose what they spend on political advocacy, including campaign donations... more

Apr 16, 2012 The People vs. the "Corporate People" April 16, 2012
Motley Fool
by Alyce Lomax
The Supreme Court's Citizens United case, which helped further open the floodgates for corporate political spending in America, is about an ongoing and extremely contentious issue. Even before the ruling, there was plenty of reason... more

Apr 10, 2012 Corporate Spending Post-Citizens United Decision Comes Under Attack April 10, 2012
JD Supra
by Morgan Lewis
The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. �, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010), lifted long-standing limits on corporate and labor union political spending. Prior to Citizens United, federal law... more

Apr 10, 2012 The In-House World According to Ben Heineman, Jr. Part II April 10, 2012
Law.com Corporate Counsel
by Catherine Dunn
In this edited conversation, Heineman discusses corporate regulation, anticorruption efforts, and the post-Citizens United role of U.S. companies in politics and elections. more

Apr 5, 2012 Coke Withdraws from Group That Backs Stand Your Ground Law April 5, 2012
Baltimore Sun
by Barbara Liston and Martinne Geller
Coca-Cola Co is dropping its membership in a conservative national advocacy group that supports "Stand Your Ground" laws such as the one being used as a defense in the Florida killing of an unarmed black... more

Mar 28, 2012 Chevron, Merck Disclose Funding to 2010 Attack-Ad Groups March 28, 2012
Bloomberg News
by Jonathan D. Salant
Some secret donors who gave money to groups that paid for millions of dollars in attack ads during the 2010 midterm elections are becoming public. Chevron Corp. (CVX), an oil and gas company; Merck & Co. (MRK), a drug... more

Mar 26, 2012 Making Corporate Actions Visible March 26, 2012
Huffington Post
by Ralph Gomory and Leo Hindery, Jr.
In a recent article we wrote: "America today is very different from the country that fought the Revolutionary War and framed the Constitution. Then, it was a nation of farmers; today, it's a nation of... more

Mar 26, 2012 Halliburton Wins Praise from Open-Government Groups for Commitment to Political Disclosure March 26, 2012
Houston Chronicle
by Richard Dunham
This is news: Halliburton is being praised � yes, praised! � by political watchdog groups. The Houston-based multinational corporation, which has been blasted for a decade by liberals and good government groups for its... more

Mar 23, 2012 Corporate Governance Advocates Take on Political Spending and Contracts with Managers March 23, 2012
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
In September, the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), an organization of institutional investors representing $18 trillion in assets under management, submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission... more

Mar 21, 2012 One Hundred Companies Sign on to Disclose Political Spending March 21, 2012
The Hill
by Rachel Leven
One hundred companies have signed on to a watchdog organizations� effort to disclose political expenditures. A 100th company joined the Center for Political Accountability�s corporate governance standard Wednesday, the center... more

Mar 9, 2012 IRS May Make Political Groups Pay Dearly for Keeping Donors Secret -- And Out Them March 9, 2012
Huffington Post
by Dan Froomkin
For years, the IRS has done little or nothing to check the rise of overtly political groups that claim a special tax-exempt status in order to funnel secret money into election-related advertising. more

Mar 6, 2012 More Shareholders Demanding Corporate Political Transparency March 6, 2012
Law.com Corporate Counsel
by Catherine Dunn
As voters tune into the Republican presidential campaign�s big Super Tuesday primaries, concerns about adverse effects of corporate political spending are being reflected in an expanding universe of shareholder... more

Feb 24, 2012 SEC's Aguilar Says Companies Should Report Political Spending February 24, 2012
Bloomberg News
by Jesse Hamilton
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should require companies to disclose their spending on political campaigns, said SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar. �Investors are not receiving adequate disclosure, and as the... more

Feb 15, 2012 End Corporate Demockary February 15, 2012
CorpGov.net by James McRitchie
Corporations determine far more than any other institution the air we breathe, the quality of the water we drink, even where we live. Yet they are not accountable to anyone. Those words were on the 1991 cover of Power and... more

Feb 7, 2012 AT&T Shareholders Demand Answers February 7, 2012
Politico
by David Saleh Rauf
Some AT&T shareholders want more than just dollars and cents from the board of directors in the aftermath of the company�s aborted takeover of T-Mobile: They want to know how company money is being spent to influence politics. more

Jan 27, 2012 Shareowners File 40 Resolutions on Lobbying Expenditures by Corporations January 27, 2012
Social Funds
by Robert Kropp
Walden Asset Management leads a coalition of investors calling on companies to disclose both direct lobbying expenditures and indirect funding of lobbying through trade associations. SocialFunds.com -- Spearheaded by the work... more

Jan 26, 2012 Shedding Light on Political Spending January 26, 2012
Parker Poe
In recent years, shareholder activists have called for greater transparency regarding corporate political spending. Demands for full disclosure � even for shareholder approval of certain political spending � increased dramatically in the wake of the... more

Jan 22, 2012 Corporate Political Spending Targeted January 22, 2012
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
by Len Boselovic
Investors and corporate governance experts are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public companies to provide detailed disclosure of their political spending. The initiative comes two years... more

Jan 18, 2012 Shareowners to Corporations: Say No to Political Expenditures January 18, 2012
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
Since the US Supreme Court decided the controversial Citizens United case two years ago and removed longstanding limits on corporate political spending, shareowners and other governance advocates have engaged with companies in... more

Jan 6, 2012 Tough Dilemmas for Companies on Campaign Spending January 6, 2012
Harvard Business Review
by Ben W. Heineman, Jr.
Should companies use funds from the corporate treasury to advocate directly for or against political candidates in contested elections? This basic question � now made immediate with the opening of the... more

Jan 5, 2012 Occupy Shareholders Engaging with Shareholder Resolutions? It's Happening... January 5, 2012
Nonprofit Quarterly
by Rick Cohen
Why did 2011 break all previous records in the number of shareholder resolutions pursued in the corporate sector? Did the societal frustration with the concentration of wealth and power in corporate America lead to both the... more

Dec 26, 2011 2011 in Retrospect: Will SRI Occupy Personhood in 2012? December 26, 2011
CSR Wire
by Sanford Lewis
In 2011, Occupy Wall Street and its progeny captured the world�s imagination with its resistance to the growing corporate occupation of our political system. As many within the socially responsible investment (SRI) community... more

Dec 22, 2011 Mutual Fund Support for Political Spending Disclosure Inches Upward December 22, 2011
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
An analysis prepared for the Center for Political Accountability by Jackie Cook of Fund Votes reveals that mutual fund support for corporate political spending disclosure increased in 2011 for eighth year in a row.... more

Dec 16, 2011 Focus on Donations Grows December 16, 2011
Inside Investor Relations
by Brad Allen
When the US Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that corporate political contributions are protected by free speech, the five-four split-decision signaled deep divisions. But the court was nearly unanimous in upholding the... more

Dec 7, 2011 Colgate & IBM Lead; Amazon, Berkshire, Cisco, Nike, Sprint, & Disney Lag December 7, 2011
CorpGov.net
by James McRitchie
The CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability ranks companies in the S&P 100 according to their disclosure and board oversight of political spending activities. In the aftermath of the Supreme... more

Dec 6, 2011 Benchmarking Political Spending Habits December 6, 2011
Compliance Week
by Stephen Davis and Jon Lukomnik
The phrase �corporate politics� is about to take on a whole new meaning. Next year is, of course, an election year when presidential and congressional elections will dominate the headlines. What you may not... more

Nov 22, 2011 Wall Street Journal Op-ed Attacks Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending November 22, 2011
Social Funds
by Robert Kropp
Bruce Freed of the Center for Political Accountability talks with SocialFunds.com about the mischaracterizations in the Journal's op-ed piece, and describes the widespread support for greater disclosure. SocialFunds.com --... more

Nov 15, 2011 More Companies Disclose their Political Spending Habits November 15, 2011
Compliance Week
by Reese Darragh
According to a recent study on political spending disclosure practices�the first since the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court case�more than half of the S&P 100 disclose aspects of their political giving habits.... more

Nov 15, 2011 How Many Companies does it take to Win an Election? November 15, 2011
CSRwire.com
by Elaine Cohen
Is corporate political spending responsible business practice or unreasonable use of corporate power and influence? Either way, if more corporations do not disclose their contributions, you may just be voting, inadvertently,... more

Nov 12, 2011 Citizens United ruling and the potential of don�t ask, don�t tell vs. full disclosure. November 12, 2011
Groundupct.wordpress.com
Editorial
Overtime, we have seen our electoral process eroded by special interests groups and lobbyists, coupled with much money to influence elections and elected officials. The emergence of a new Republican party has launched a... more

Nov 10, 2011 Say-on-pay not going away November 10, 2011
Inside Investor Relations
by Adam Piore
With a flagging economy driving down earnings, investors are likely to more closely scrutinize rising pay, and may take a more confrontational stance than they did during the financially heady days of the 2011 proxy... more

Nov 9, 2011 How Consequential is Citizen�s United? November 9, 2011
Election Law Blog
by Richard Pildes
There is a tendency right now to attribute to Citizens United (CU) virtually all newly emerging forms of financing elections, and the increasingly large amounts, that arose in the 2010 election cycle and that look to... more

Nov 7, 2011 The indirect political spending of the S&P 100 November 7, 2011
Law Professor's Blog Network
by Elizabeth Pollman
The Center for Political Accountability and Wharton�s Zicklin Center for Business Ethics recently released a report evaluating the political spending and disclosure practices of the S&P 100. They�ve come up... more

Nov 4, 2011 The Biggest Companies Are Getting the Message November 4, 2011
Motley Fool
by Alyce Lomax
The unholy alliance between money and politics is one of the biggest controversies capturing the public spotlight these days. Fortunately, heightened attention to the topic seems to be convincing the biggest corporations to... more

Nov 4, 2011 Study ranks UPS high in political transparency November 4, 2011
Atlanta Business Chronicle
by Dave Williams
United Parcel Service Inc. .. has one of the most progressive policies for disclosing political contributions among the nation�s largest companies, according to a new study. more

Nov 3, 2011 Corporate citizenship: Companies should follow IBM and Colgate-Palmolive's lead on political spending November 3, 2011
Pennlive.com
by Patriot News Editorial Board
January 21, 2010, might well go down in American history as the day our democracy altered forever � and not for the better. That was the date the Supreme Court�s Citizens United decision was made, giving... more

Nov 2, 2011 New Index Looks at S&P 100 Corporate Political Spending Policies and Practices November 2, 2011
The Confernece Board
from the Governance Center Blog
With the 2012 presidential and congressional elections hurtling toward us and another proxy season just around the corner, the topic of corporate political spending is looming large, as U.S. companies... more

Nov 1, 2011 Political-Giving Feedback November 1, 2011
Treasury & Risk
by John Mulqueen
The issue of corporate political contributions has drawn a lot of attention since 2010, when the Supreme Court opened the way for secret political contributions by companies and unions. Shareholder groups are pressing... more

Oct 31, 2011 Amazon Gets Failing Grade for Political Transparency, Says Study October 31, 2011
Seattle Weekly
by Curtis Cartier
Question: What do Amazon and Disney have in common? Answer: Both company's founders had/have a strange interest in cryogenics. Oh, also both companies are apparently extremely secretive about how they spend money to... more

Oct 31, 2011 Study Rates S&P 100 Corporate Political Transparency, Accountability October 31, 2011
Corporate Counsel
by Sue Reisinger
A growing number of U.S. companies are putting restrictions on political contributions and are voluntarily disclosing corporate political spending, according to a new study by the nonpartisan Center for Political... more

Oct 31, 2011 Under shareholder pressure, companies disclose political spending October 31, 2011
InsideCounsel.com
by Cathleen Flahardy
According to a recent survey by the Center for Political Accountability, a non-profit created in 2003 with a goal to bring transparency to corporations' political spending, an increasing number of companies is... more

Oct 31, 2011 Companies rethink corporate political donations October 31, 2011
Inside Investor Relations
by Brad Allen
A survey of practices at the S&P 100 reveals that two dozen of the largest US corporations have publicly opted out of political spending funneled through independent committees, as allowed by the Supreme Court... more

Oct 29, 2011 Study: Corporations placing own limits on political spending October 29, 2011
Los Angeles Times
by Melanie Mason
Faced with the option of limitless political spending in a post-Citizens United world, corporations are increasingly choosing to disclose, and in some cases limit, their giving, according to a study released Friday.... more

Oct 28, 2011 Study: Where do Minnesota companies rank in political disclosure? October 28, 2011
Minnesota Independent
by Jon Collins
A study released today ranked the top 100 American companies on how well they disclose their political activities, finding that many companies are moving towards adoption of disclosure policies, although others, such as... more

Oct 28, 2011 Amazon, Disney tight-lipped on giving October 28, 2011
Politico
by Dave Levinthal
Amazon.com may be a leading purveyor of information. The Walt Disney Company trades in making youthful dreams come true. But both corporations rank among the nation�s worst when it comes to disclosing and managing their... more

Oct 28, 2011 More Companies Shed Light on Political Spending October 28, 2011
Reuters
by Kim Dixon
More American companies are bending to shareholder pressure to reveal their spending to sway political campaigns despite court decisions allowing unfettered corporate cash in elections, according to a study released on Friday.... more

Oct 28, 2011 Walt Disney Doesn't Want You To Know Which Political Campaigns It's Paying For October 29, 2011
Miami New Times
by David Minsky
Walt Disney might be known best for sunny characters like Mickey Mouse, but that doesn't mean it's opposed to a little dark political skullduggery on the side. Disney is worst among big American corporations in terms of... more

Oct 28, 2011 Is Political Accountability an Oxymoron October 28, 2011
Intel CSR Blog
by Linda Qian
Intel does have Political Accountability Guidelines based on the Center for Political Accountability�s Model Code of Conduct for Political Spending. That document is a living document that was just recently updated this year... more

Oct 28, 2011 Index Ranks Companies on Political Spending Disclosure October 28, 2011
Sustainability Investment News
by Robert Kropp
SocialFunds.com -- Today, at the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the Wharton School, the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) launched the most recent of its initiatives to improve... more

Oct 27, 2011 More Corporations Shed Light on Political Spending October 27, 2011
National Public Radio
by Peter Overby
For the first time, 100 of America's biggest corporations are being rated on the transparency of their political activities. On Friday, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the nonpartisan Center... more

Oct 27, 2011 Largest U.S. Companies Increasingly Disclose Political Spending October 27, 2011
Bloomberg News
by Kristin Jensen and Alison Fitzgerald
The largest U.S. companies are increasingly disclosing to shareholders the donations they make to political candidates and interest groups, according to the Center for Political Accountability.... more

Oct 26, 2011 The Influence Industry: Judicial elections, corporate policies give glimpse into 2012 October 27, 2011
Washington Post
by Dan Eggen
Two studies scheduled to be released Thursday offer contrasting predictions for the 2012 elections: Outside groups are likely to spend more money than ever, but many top corporations may not be among them. The second study,... more

Aug 13, 2011 The Conference Board Forms Committee on Corporate Political Spending August 13, 2011
SocialFunds.com
by Robert Kropp
After collaborating last year with the Center for Political Accountability on a Handbook on Corporate Political Activity, the Board seeks to educate its member businesses on the issue in advance of the 2012 elections. more

Aug 9, 2011 Corporate Political Donations: Ties that Bind August 9, 2011
Corporate Board Member
by John R. Engen
By now, most corporate leaders are at least vaguely familiar with Target Corp.�s ill-fated dalliance in the arena of financing election campaigns. During the 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial race, the big Minneapolis-based... more

Aug 4, 2011 Corporate Political Spending Will be a Major Issue in 2012 August 4, 2011
Sustainability Investment News
by Robert Kropp
SocialFunds.com -- The degree to which the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision of January 2010 has galvanized activist shareowners was made clear this past proxy season, when resolutions addressing political... more

May 17, 2011 Obama mulls new way to measure political reach May 17 2011
USA Today
by Fredreka Schouten
WASHINGTON � Some of the nation's biggest government contractors do not disclose details of their political spending through trade associations and other third-party groups that are playing an increasingly important role in... more

May 13, 2011 Shareholder advocacy groups lift veil on political contributions May 13, 2011
Star Tribune
by Susan Feyder
Spurred by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened corporate coffers to political candidates, shareholder advocacy groups are taking companies here and elsewhere to task for their political spending policies. more

Mar 23, 2011 When it Comes to Political Spending, Some Companies Tell All March 23, 2011
National Public Radio
by Peter Overby
The percentage of undisclosed money in the political system went up during last year's midterm elections. That's because of a dramatic increase in advertising by anonymously funded freelance organizations such as the... more

Feb 24, 2011 Target Corp Revises Contribution Policy But Questions Continue After 2010 February 24, 2011
BNA Money and Politics Report
by Kenneth P. Doyle
Target Corp., the national retailer that prompted headlines and a boycott effort last year when it contributed to a conservative campaign spending group, has quietly adopted a new policy calling for more... more

Feb 4, 2011 Investors Target Political Spending February 4, 2011
Inside Investor Relations
by Jeff Cossette
Doling out corporate cash to support political campaigns is not winning any votes with shareholders more

Dec 13, 2010 Business Leaders See Risks in Unchecked Political Spending December 13, 2010
National Journal
by Eliza Newlin Carney
Reform advocates railing against undisclosed corporate campaign spending may have an unlikely new ally in the never-ending political money wars: Business leaders themselves. more

Dec 7, 2010 Handbook Guides Corporations on Disclosure of Political Activity December 7, 2010
Institutional Shareholder
by Robert Kropp
SocialFunds.com talks with Bruce Freed, President of the Center for Political Accountability and co-author of the Handbook on Corporate Political Activity, about efforts to increase corporate disclosure of payments... more

Dec 2, 2010 Shareholders Target Politics December 2, 2010
Treasury and Risk
by Dave Lindorff
Retailer Target was once seen as a paragon of social responsibility. The company offers scholarships and steers 5% of profits to programs in the communities in which its stores are located. As recently as 2008, socially... more

Dec 2, 2010 After Citizens United, Political and Legal Strategies Still Evolving December 2, 2010
WNYC
by Anna Sale
It's been nearly a month since the midterm elections, but the impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United campaign finance decision is still largely disputed. A bitterly divided court ruled in January that the government may not limit... more

Nov 17, 2010 Regulatory: Corporate Political Expenditures After Citizen's United November 17, 2010
Inside Counsel
by William H. Minor
This month�s elections featured an avalanche of independent spending designed to persuade voters to support or oppose particular candidates. Anyone who lives in a state with one or more competitive races on the 2010 ballot... more

Oct 1, 2010 Political spending does not always match CSR values October 1, 2010
Financial Times
by Sarah Murray
In January this year, a US Supreme Court ruling removed limits on corporate spending in political campaigns. The decision, which is expected to release into the election process a wave of corporate and special interest... more

Aug 30, 2010 New Spending Rules Mean New Backlash August 30, 2010
National Journal by Eliza Newlin Carney
For American corporations testing their new freedom to spend money directly on campaigns, the backlash against donations by Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. sends a stark warning: Proceed at your own risk. more

May 10, 2010 Funds Want More Disclosure of Railroad's Political Spending    May 10, 2010
Virginia Pilot
by Robert McCabe
For the second year in a row, a group of New York City pension funds has asked shareholders of Norfolk Southern Corp. to push the railroad's board of directors to better disclose the company's spending on political activities.    more

May 7, 2010 WellCare's Investor Wants Disclosure    May 7, 2010
Health News Florida
by Jim Saunders and Mike Wells
A New York-based investor is pushing to require WellCare Health Plans --- a major contributor to Florida politicians and parties --- to disclose more information about how it spends company money on political...    more

Apr 5, 2010 Shareholder Groups Seek to Limit Corporate Contributions    April 5, 2010
Christian Science Monitor by Margaret Price
Shareholder groups aim to keep a lid on companies� political spending in the wake of Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, a case in which the Supreme Court eased restrictions on corporate campaign spending.    more

Mar 11, 2010 Testimony of Professor John C. Coffee, Jr.    March 11, 2010
Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Entities of the House Financial Services Committee
by John C. Coffee, Jr.
I am pleased and honored to be invited to testify here today. My message is simple: Congress cannot successfully...    more

Feb 23, 2010 CPA Demands Political Donations Disclosure    February 23, 2010
Corporate Secretary
Last week the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) sent 430 letters to members of the S&P 500 who do not yet disclose their political spending. The letter, whose numerous signatories include the Council of Institutional Investors, warns...

Feb 22, 2010 Valuing Corporate Politics    February 22, 2010
Pensions and Investments
by Roger Schillerstrom
The U.S. Supreme Court decision Jan. 21 relaxing legal constraints on corporate political advocacy spending makes disclosure of such spending more important than ever.    more

Feb 9, 2010 Investors Seek More Disclosure on Political Spending    February 9, 2010
Wall Street Journal
by Scott Thurm
An effort by activist shareholders to prod companies to disclose political contributions is taking on new urgency following last month's Supreme Court decision loosening restrictions on corporate political spending.    more

Feb 5, 2010 Global Proxy Watch Newsletter    February 5, 2010
Global Proxy Watch
US shareowner activists have been galvanized into collective action by Citizens United, the surprise US Supreme Court decision lifting most restrictions on corporate political spending...

Feb 5, 2010 In the Wake of Controversial Supreme Court Spending Decision, Shareowner Activists Develop Plan for Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending    February 5, 2010
by Robert Kropp
Social Investment Forum
Asserting that excessive corporate political spending reduces shareowner value and weakens corporate governance, shareowner advocates call on corporations to adopt a framework for disclosure developed by the Center...    more

Jan 29, 2010 Corporate Campaign Spending: The Buck Stops Where?    January 29, 2010
AARP Bulletin Today
by Bill Hogan
In a game-changing decision handed down on Jan. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for corporations big and small to pump as much money as they want into election advertising that explicitly promotes or attacks...    more

Jan 28, 2010 Good Governance is Key to Policing Corporate Political Activities    January 21, 2010
The Council of Institutional Investors: The Voice of Corporate Governance
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled today that the government may not bar companies, labor unions and other organizations from using their general treasuries to fund...    more

Jan 22, 2010 Day After: SCOTUS Ruling Not So Bad    January 22, 2010
Politico
by Jeanne Cummings
New money will flow into campaigns this year as a result of Thursday�s Supreme Court decision, but will the impact be as dramatic as all the hyperventilating in Washington suggests?    more

Jan 21, 2010 'Free at Last,' Business Says as Court Opens Campaign Spending    January 21, 2010
Bloomberg
by Lorraine Wollert and Jonathan Salant
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Business groups celebrated the potential for greater political influence as labor unions and shareholder activists began looking for ways to counter a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that...    more

Dec 14, 2009 More Companies are Disclosing Their Political Activity    December 14, 2009
USA Today
by Fredreka Schouten
WASHINGTON- Drugmaker Merck's political action committee donated more than $572,000 to federal candidates in the 2008 election and racked up $4.6 million in expenses to lobby Congress and the executive branch last year,...    more

Nov 7, 2009 Electon Spending: Reformers on Flood Watch    November 7, 2009
National Journal
by Sara Jerome
Doomsday scenarios from campaign finance reform advocates are enough to make you grab hip waders. A pending Supreme Court decision, advocates say, could "open the floodgates to unlimited corporate and union spending during...    more

Oct 24, 2009 Corporate America's Enlightened Disclosure    October 24, 2009
National Journal
by Julie Kosterlitz
Six years ago, Bruce Freed embarked on a seemingly quixotic quest. The former Senate investigator and newspaper columnist set out to get corporate America to reveal and rethink the cash that it lavishes on the nation's...    more

Oct 22, 2009 Shareholders Should Hear About Political Spending    October 22, 2009
Business Week
by Ciara Torres-Spellescy
On Sept. 9, about a month before the U.S. Supreme Court officially kicked off its 2009- 2010 term, the justices assembled to rehear a closely watched case about corporate campaign spending. Citizens United v. Federal...    more

Oct 1, 2009 Investors Urge Chamber Defections    October 1, 2009
Roll Call
By Anna Palmer
Activist shareholders are pressuring companies such as Nike to pull out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, arguing that the trade group�s stance against climate change legislation is incompatible with the companies� own positions.    more

Jun 10, 2009 Cash-for-clunkers deal moves ahead    June 10, 2009
Politico
By Lisa Lerer
A controversial auto bill that would reward consumers with tax credits for trading in their old cars and buying more-fuel-efficient ones passed the House on Tuesday, inching closer to becoming law.    more

Apr 17, 2009 El Paso advocates disclosure standards    April 17, 2009
Houston Business Journal
By Greg Barr
Bruce Freed has been prodding publicly traded companies for five years to provide details of political expenditures using corporate funds. His Washington, D.C., advocacy group, the Center for Political Accountability, sent...    more

Mar 24, 2009 Companies try to clean up their act    March 24, 2009
Politico
By Jeanne Cummings
Having the wrong political benefactor can be as toxic an asset as a bundled bunch of subprime loans. Just ask the PMA Group, Kuchera Defense Systems and Kuchera Industries, all companies caught up in a federal investigation...    more

Feb 23, 2009 Shareholder Advocates Want Political Disclosure    February 23, 2009
National Journal
By Robert Gettlin
The Center for Political Accountability, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for transparency and accountability in corporate political spending, has sent a letter to 19 financial companies that received...    more

Dec 17, 2008 Measuring Corporate Accountability    December 17, 2008
National Journal
By Bara Vaida
Companies over the years have gotten caught up in controversy by providing monetary support for hot-button state ballot measures. The most recent companies to get embroiled in such measures are Bolthouse Farms, Pacific Gas &...    more

Jun 1, 2008 When Political Giving Doesn't Pay    June 1, 2008
Directorship
By Aaron Bernstein
As the 2008 presidential election hits full stride, your company may be inclined to shell out? through the legal channels of PACs, 527s, and other avenues?to the candidate perceived to be in the best interest of your company or...    more...

May 29, 2008 Corporations to Disclose Political Contributions    May 29,2008
New York Times Caucus blog
By Leslie Wayne
Boards of directors of Fortune 500 companies typically get involved in such matters as setting dividends, hiring executives and deciding on corporate strategy. But a new task has been added to the agenda of many...    more

May 13, 2008 Companies Start to Lift Veil on Political Spending    May 13, 2008
Washington Post
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Ever wonder how much companies really spend to influence government through trade associations? Well, a few corporations are coming clean, or at least cleaner.    more

Mar 14, 2008 Political Blinders    March 14, 2008
Global Proxy Watch
By Stephen Davis
Should a company's board control its political spending, a task usually left to management? Some 62% of US directors think boards should oversee donations, and 57% think such spending should require board approval,

Feb 28, 2008 Companies to disclose political aid    February 28, 2008
Financial Times
By Francesco Guerrera
Five large US companies, including American Express and Xerox, will bow to shareholder pressure on Thursday and agree to disclose all their political spending.    more

Feb 28, 2008 Disclosing gifts to trade groups: the next big thing in governance?    February 28, 2008
Financial Week
By Jeff Nash
Five U.S. public companies have agreeed to disclose the donations they make to trade associations and other non-profits that are used for political purposes, bringing the total number of companies now providing such disclosure...    more...

Jan 28, 2008 Monsanto bears up to baring its political contributions    January 28, 2007
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By David Nicklaus
A year ago, Monsanto resisted the idea of disclosing political contributions on its website. It said such reporting "would not be useful to shareowners and would be burdensome and an unnecessary expense to the...    more

Jan 17, 2008 Is your portfolio politically slanted?    January 17, 2008
Christian Science Monitor
By Laurent Belsie
Do you know the political slant of your portfolio? Every election cycle, US businesses pour hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns, parties, and politically affiliated groups. Some of that money is...    more

Jan 14, 2008 Corporate Governance special report    January 14, 2008
Wall Street Journal
By Andrew Yurkovsky
The pace of companies adopting policies to disclose their political spending has quickened, with 18 more companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index agreeing last year to disclose such spending. According to the...    more...

Nov 16, 2007 Lifting the Curtain on Corporate Contributions    December 16, 2007
Conde Nast Portfolio.com
By Megan Barnett
During the first six months of 2007, Pfizer spent $128,969 from its corporate checkbook on political donations to Democratic and Republican politicians. It doled out another $614,300 to various party committees and...    more...

Sep 1, 2007 Show Us Your Money: Halting the Use of Trade Organizations as Convert Conduits for Corporate Campaign Contributions    September 9, 2007
Journal of Corporate Law
By Shayla Kasel
The US Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) is the world's largest business federation, and the most financially influential trade organization. The Chamber is one of the top independent organizational contributors...    more

Aug 12, 2007 Resolved: Public Corporations Shall Take Us Seriously    August 12, 2007
New York Times Sunday Magazine
By Dashka Slater
Daly's order, the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Caldwell, N.J., owns about 300 of the 5.5 billion Exxon Mobil shares outstanding, but she has used those few shares to keep the company talking about an issue that...    more

Aug 1, 2007 What's Next for Governance?    August 1, 2007
Institutional Shareholder Services
Investors and U.S. corporate issuers came together as never before in 2007 to address a wide range of concerns and to better align views on corporate best practices.    more

Jun 4, 2007 Proxy bids more than hot air    June 4, 2007
Financial Week
By Jeff Nash
With the 2008 election season ramping up, investors are increasingly asking companies to better disclose their political contributions?and in many cases, they?re getting what they asked for.    more...

Apr 17, 2007 To Conceal Donors, Some Political Groups Look to the Tax Code    April 17, 2007
The Washington Post
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
An increasing number of organizations working to influence elections also are working to hide who is paying for their activities.    more

Apr 1, 2007 Investors want facts on political donations    April 1, 2007
Financial Times
By Francesco Guerrera
Corporate America's traditional secrecy on political spending is under attack from an investor drive for greater transparency before the 2008 presidential election campaign.    more

Mar 21, 2007 Nonprofit Calls on Firms to Include Donation Rules in Codes of Conduct    March 21, 2007
Wall Street Journal
By Dean Treftz
A shareholder advocacy group is calling for companies to include rules on corporate political donations in their codes of conduct, in order to avoid potential legal problems and perhaps scandal.    more...

Mar 6, 2007 A Peek Into Corporate America    March 6, 2007
The Washington Post
Not waiting for Congress to impose new disclosure laws, shareholder activists have persuaded some of the nation's largest companies to disclose their political spending on such things as issue campaigns. General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and...    more...

Jan 29, 2007 Cutting Risk by Disclosing Political Donations    January 29, 2007
Politico.com
By Andrew Glass
In politics, it often pays to be ahead of the curve. That holds true for corporate governance too, even more so when politics enter the equation.    more...

Jan 28, 2007 Monsanto bears up to baring its political contributions    January 28, 2007
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By David Nicklaus
A year ago, Monsanto resisted the idea of disclosing political contributions on its website. It said such reporting "would not be useful to shareowners and would be burdensome and an unnecessary expense to the...    more...

Jan 24, 2007 Home Depot Agrees to Disclose Political Donations    January 24, 2007
Bloomberg News Service
By Vineeta Anand
Home Depot Inc. agreed to disclose its political donations for the first time, one of several new policies that may help appease investors angered by former Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli's severance package.    more...

Dec 1, 2006 Cause-Related Funding: Critics Want Disclosure    December 1, 2006
The Issue Barometer
Hard questions are being asked about "soft money" corporate spending.    more

Nov 7, 2006 Activists Say BP Breaking Promise on Campaign Donations    November 7, 2006
Dow Jones Newswires
By John M. Biers
BP PLC (BP), which vowed to refrain from making political donations in 2002, has come under renewed criticism over a series of recent U.S. contributions that shareholder activists say contradict its pledge.    more...

Aug 22, 2006 Lifting the veil of secrecy on corporate political donations    August 22, 2006
Financial Times
By Francesco Guerrera
When President Theodore Roosevelt railed against business people for putting their fortunes "only to the basest of uses", he did not include currying political favour as one of the abominations of those "malefactors of...    more...

May 31, 2006 Does your company keep political secrets?    May 31, 2006
Fortune
By Marc Gunther
Transparency is a big trend these days in corporate America. Under pressure from regulators, shareholders and activists, Fortune 500 companies are becoming more open about executive pay, the makeup of their workforce, the safety of their...    more...

May 14, 2006 Secrets of Corporate Giving    May 14, 2006
Time
By Douglas Waller
Merck prides itself on being socially enlightened. The drugmaker gives its employees diversity training and extends health insurance to same-sex partners. But a report to be released this week by the Washington-based Center for Political...    more...

Apr 25, 2006 Watchdog group makes quiet gains for transparency in corporate giving    April 25, 2006
The Hill
By Elana Schor
With ethics and campaign-finance reform making plenty of headlines this year, one might think the watchdog Center for Political Accountability would be a household name inside the Beltway. But the group operates mainly under the radar...    more...

Apr 5, 2006 Investors Seek Clarity on Campaign Giving    April 5, 2006
Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Cummings
As Congress debates new campaign-finance rules, shareholder groups are pushing companies to do a better job of disclosing political donations.    more...

Mar 20, 2006 More Firms' Political Ties Put Online    March 20, 2006
Los Angeles Times
By Jonathan Peterson
Under pressure from shareholder activists, a small but growing number of major U.S. companies have agreed to disclose their political donations on their corporate websites.    more...

Mar 10, 2006 This Year's Proxy Issue: Political Contributions    March 10, 2006
American Banker
By Jim Cole
Shareholders are pushing Citigroup Inc. and several other banking companies this proxy season to fully disclose their political contributions.    more...

Jan 31, 2006 Up Front    January 31, 2006
Business Week
By Nanette Byrnes
General Mills (GIS ) has become the latest company to agree to disclose its political donations -- and the sixth this year. It joins Amgen (AMGN ), Bristol-Myers Squibb, Staples, Southern Co. (SO), and McDonald's (MCD ) in...    more...

Jan 18, 2006 Pressure On Boards to Oversee Soft Dollars Hardening in 2006    January 18, 2006
Dow Jones
By Tiffany Kary
As a political storm continues to gather over the dealings between former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, it isn't just politicians who need to be wary. Companies are also reassessing their political...    more...

Dec 16, 2005 Shining Light on Corporate Political Gifts    December 16, 2005
The New York Times
By Floyd Norris
WHICH politicians - and which political causes - are your companies financing? Will those contributions come back to haunt them as prosecutors go after lobbyists for expenditures that could be deemed contributions - or...    more...

Sep 26, 2005 Funds vote down political disclosure proxies    September 26, 2005
Reuters
Mutual funds, which hold more than 22 percent of U.S. corporate stock, overwhelmingly voted against proposals to require corporations to disclose political contributions in the 2005 proxy season, a new study found.    more...

Jun 15, 2005 Missing in Action?    June 15, 2005
Roll Call
By Tory Newmyer
NAM promised to fight vigorously for Bush's judges. Or did it?    more

Jun 1, 2005 Proponents Score Several Wins in Spring Season    June/July 2005
IRRC's Corporate Social Issues Reporter
By Carolyn Mathiasen and Meg Voorhes
The spring 2005 proxy season for corporate responsibility issues was notable for a new campaign, led by AFSCME and the state of Minnesota, questioning drug companies on their policies...    more...

May 1, 2005 J&J, Schering-Plough Boards Will Oversee Donations    May 1, 2005
Board Alert
Following the lead set by Morgan Stanley and Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Schering-Plough have agreed to publicly disclose and explain the reasons for their corporate political contributions. The firms' boards, in a move that goes beyond what...    more...

Apr 7, 2005 NPR Report on Johnson & Johnson, Schering-Plough Political Disclosure Moves    April 7, 2005
National Public Radio
Peter Overby
National Public Radio covered the decision by pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson and Schering-Plough to disclose and require board oversight of the political contributions they make with corporate funds.    more...

Mar 6, 2005 Investors turn focus to political contributions    March 6, 2005
Chicago Tribune
By Andrew Countryman
Amid the scores of shareholder resolutions filed each proxy season, a growing number of investors want to know where companies are spreading their political contributions.    more...

Feb 14, 2005 BellSouth, Citigroup, Eli Lilly Urged to Disclose Donations    February 14, 2005
Bloomberg News Service
By Jonathan D. Salant
BellSouth Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. are among more than 30 companies that will be asked by institutional investors including unions to disclose their political donations and the reasons for them.    more...

Nov 1, 2004 Strange Bedfellows    November 1, 2004
IR Magazine
By Jana Sanchez
Enron's collapse in 2001 turned media - and beleagured shareholders' - attention to corporate political donations. The energy giant's political generosity seemed to give its executives particularly former chairman Kenneth Lay,...    more

Sep 1, 2004 Election Year Focuses Shareholders on Corporate Political Contributions    September 2004
By Shelley Alpern
Until very recently, the socially responsible investment (SRI) movement has devoted relatively little attention to the problem of corporate political giving. Having nothing to do with companies that donate unseemly sums to political causes may sound...    more...

Aug 16, 2004 Business behavior is too opaque    August 16, 2004
Oregon Live.com
News items remind us of two types of corporate information that should be made prominently available to shareholders, employees and creditors.    more...

Apr 26, 2004 Activists Target Political Gifts: Dozens of companies face shareholder resolutions calling for more-detailed accounts of donations    April 26, 2004
Los Angeles Times
By Jonathan Peterson
In an election-year burst of activism, shareholders have targeted dozens of companies with resolutions urging that they provide enhanced, easily accessible details of all their political donations.    more...

Apr 16, 2004 U.P. political gifts are questioned    April 16, 2004
World-Herald
By Stacie Hamel
The Washington, D.C.-based center distributed information this week reporting that U.P. made $1,032,022 in corporate contributions in the 2002 election cycle and that the company "gave to conduits that, in turn, contributed to...    more...

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