Political risk as a pecuniary factor is one the rise, at least according to one large public pension fund. The New York State Common Retirement Fund announced on Thursday that it will require “enhanced disclosure” on political spending from seven companies in its portfolio.
After reaching the agreements, the fund withdrew shareholder proposals it had previously filed with each company.
“In today’s political climate, corporations that engage in political spending risk damaging their reputations; shareholders need transparency to be able to assess whether corporate political donations align with shareholders’ interests,” New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, trustee of the fund, said in a statement. “It is imperative that companies, at a bare minimum, proactively disclose all corporate funds spent on political causes."
Companies who agreed to publicly report monetary and nonmonetary contributions and expenditures to any campaign for or against a candidate, or to influence public opinion on an election or referendum, include:
- Match Group
- Penn Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Discovery
- Zillow Group
- Paramount Global, and
- Zoom Video Communications.
Travelers Companies agreed to adopt policies that require the disclosure of trade associations and social welfare organizations to which the company pays dues of $25,000 or more and the lobbying allocations associated with those contributions.
A proposal for political spending disclosure at casino and hotel operator Caesars Entertainment Inc. received 41.98% of the shareholders’ vote at the company’s June 13 annual meeting.
DiNapoli said that since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling that struck down Citizens United, he’s filed 179 shareholder proposals on political spending disclosure, with 61 corporations adopting or agreeing to adopt disclosures.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million state and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries.
