If you own public company stock that is listed on the US markets, chances are you receive proxy statements, or a Form DEF 14A, before shareholder meetings. Even after the long bygone scandals of Enron and MCI Worldcom, many of us still do not read them, but we should. While it is more difficult to tuck in disclosures that allow a company’s executive team and directors to treat their company’s treasury as a piggy bank, many of still do not pay enough attention to these SEC filings. To that end, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is soliciting public comment on the efficiency of the proxy system.
For
corporate social responsibility (CSR) advocates to see that their goals companies taking more steps to reach improved transparency, environmental consciousness, and social good. Many public company board members, however, still do not “get it,” and shareholders who attempt to have CSR become embedded within companies’ operations still face an uphill climb.
One small but significant trend, however, is making its way onto proxy statements. Last week Prudential tucked into its
proxy statement a few comments about its
corporate citizenship. Plunked at the end of the section that covers corporate governance,
on page 24, are a few comments about Prudential’s foundation and its employees’ volunteerism.
Corporate Citizenship
- Our employees continued the Company’s long tradition of corporate citizenship. Our flagship volunteer program — Global Volunteer Day — engaged nearly 25,000 employees, friends and family members in more than 800 projects in 12 countries.
- Prudential Foundation contributed grants to many of the nonprofit organizations served in this effort as part of an overall grants program amounting to $22,500,000 in 2010.
Look for more notes like this to make their way into proxy statements, and look for them to become more detailed. As recalcitrant board members and executives see more information like this, we will see more interest by corporate boards about initiatives related to corporate governance and CSR. Prudential is one of many companies to take this small step with their proxy statements, but it is a welcome step indeed. Integrated reporting may not be such a far-flung idea after all!
