Open Windows: How Codes of Conduct Regulate Corporate Political Spending and a Model Code to Protect Company Interests and Shareholder Value (pdf)

A company’s political spending can expose it to serious risks. Wrongheaded spending can compromise a corporation’s reputation, or worse, expose it to criminal liability. Open Windowsshares a survey of S&P 100’s that shows how few have created codes of conduct or other publicly stated policies that would help safeguard them from unsound political spending decisions.…

Hidden Rivers: How Trade Associations Conceal Corporate Political Spending, Its Threat to Companies, and What Shareholders Can Do (pdf)

Trade associations have become the Swiss bank accounts of American politics. Through them, corporations spend millions of dollars on political activities that can ultimately lead to a decline in shareholder value and compromise the reputations of corporations and their leaders. Hidden Riversuses case studies of hotly contested judicial elections to show how corporations, via trade…

The Green Canary: Alerting Shareholders and Protecting Their Investments (pdf)

A company that effectively discloses its political spending builds trust among shareholders and financial analysts. A company that fails to disclose risks making political spending decisions that can lead to financial losses and a compromised corporate reputation. The Green Canary explores the risks posed to shareholders in the absence of disclosure, and presents two methods…