Shareholder Protection Act of 2021

3/8/2023, 8:26 PM

Shareholder Protection Act of 2021

This bill requires shareholder authorization of certain political expenditures by a publicly traded company. A violation of this requirement is considered a breach of fiduciary duty, and the officers and directors who authorized the expenditure are subject to joint and several liability. A publicly traded company must require a board vote with respect to political expenditures in excess of $50,000 and, within 48 hours, make publicly available the individual votes of each board member.

Congress
117

Number
S - 530

Introduced on
2021-03-02

# Amendments
0

Sponsors
+5

Cosponsors
+5

Variations and Revisions

3/2/2021

Status of Legislation

Bill Introduced
Introduced to House
House to Vote
Introduced to Senate
Senate to Vote

Purpose and Summary

Shareholder Protection Act of 2021

This bill requires shareholder authorization of certain political expenditures by a publicly traded company. A violation of this requirement is considered a breach of fiduciary duty, and the officers and directors who authorized the expenditure are subject to joint and several liability. A publicly traded company must require a board vote with respect to political expenditures in excess of $50,000 and, within 48 hours, make publicly available the individual votes of each board member.

Alternative Names
Official Title as IntroducedA bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require shareholder authorization before a public company may make certain political expenditures, and for other purposes.

Policy Areas
Finance and Financial Sector

Potential Impact
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Corporate finance and management
Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Political advertising
Securities
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Comments

Recent Activity

Latest Summary6/25/2021

Shareholder Protection Act of 2021

This bill requires shareholder authorization of certain political expenditures by a publicly traded company. A violation of this requirement is considered a breach of fiduciary duty, and the o...


Latest Action3/2/2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.