“Apple Inc is pushing back on shareholder proposals on climate issue and human rights concerns, an effort activists worry could sharply restrict investor rights,” Ross Kerber reports for Reuters. “In letters to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month, an attorney for the California computer maker argued at least four shareholder proposals relate to ‘ordinary business’ and therefore can be left off the proxy Apple is expected to publish early next year, ahead of its annual meeting.”
“While companies routinely seek permission to skip shareholder proposals, Apple’s application of the new SEC guidance shows how it could be used to ignore many investor proposals by claiming boards routinely review those areas, said Sanford Lewis, a Massachusetts attorney representing Apple shareholders who had filed two of the resolutions,” Kerber reports. “Were the SEC to side with Apple, ‘this would be an incredibly dangerous precedent that would essentially say a great many proposals could be omitted,’ Lewis said.”
“Often seen as distractions in the past, shareholder measures have taken on new significance as big asset managers increasingly back those on areas like climate change or board diversity,” Kerber reports. “These include calls for Apple to take steps such as establishing a ‘human rights committee’ to address concerns on topics like censorship, and for Apple to report on its ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If you don’t want to be beholden to shareholders, take the company private.
Beyond the urgent, never-ending work of protecting the rights we enjoy, each generation — including ours — has a responsibility to advance and enlarge the definition of human rights. #HumanRightsDay
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 10, 2017
These are investor provocateurs with ulterior motives similar to Einhorn, Icahn and other Apple vultures. apple has the best rack record in the world on these issues which are indeed witnessed by its regular everyday focus, intent and track record.
“Best” according to who??
Some people also say America is the “best” country in the world.
Funny how that works….
This is VERY good. It also points out, in detail, why the current attempt to ‘make America great again’ is an outright FRAUD. It’s telling the people what they want to hear then pulling the old Bait and Switch with yet another barrage of Neo-Feudalism. The actual facts of the matter are thoroughly avoided in favor of what amounts to more scouring out of the value of the USA in order to further enrich the gluttonous.
Screw We The Peasants.
Creativity is just another warm body to leach on. Parasitism is king. Same old story. Kiss the ring of the aristocraps.
America is not the best country in the world? Can you explain why more people in the world want to live in the US? Certainly is not perfect, but I don’t see other country with more outsiders, now even Sweden that is receiving refugees with open borders.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Nordic counties are better in most ways.
Typical leftist bullshit. American taxpayers pay for the defense of all of those countries giving them the ability to fund exorbitant social programs, which in turn weaken their populations into collectivist lemmings. If they are better in most ways then move there you bum!
Typical conservative agitprop. Those countries all pay their own way. They save money by minding their business around the globe more than we do. And often what we’re involving ourselves in is at the behest of businesses that want a free ride to get what they want.
Libshit liar, a few countries pay the 2% GDP NATO defense minimum, the rest are free-loading, leftist parasite countries. The Muslim invaders see easy prey, progressives are cowards so they’ll let themselves and their families be raped and murdered, if they survive they’ll blame themselves and kiss the bearded barbarian’s ass.
Well we’re not much better. We’re running up a huge national deficit partially because Republicans are unwilling to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes. But not only that, what are we spending our deficit on? Health care? Education? No, we’re paying for defense contractors to get rich off of the military industrial complex and right wing annihilation fantasies. At least the Scandinavian countries have their priorities straight.
Oh, and they’re not so bigoted and closed minded to resort to Islamophobia just to advance the military industrial complex’s agenda, either.
Probably half of what you said I agree with, the rest is lunacy. The difference is explained by r/K selection theory, leftists haven’t seen anything yet.
I was prodding a Liberal that is quick to jump on the America Sux bandwagon almost every chance he gets.
America Souix
Mr. I Hate American-Road Warrior would say? I’m not presuming, or anything, btw.
Serious long time shareholders, not loud mouth spouters – those that put their money where their mouths are, that’s who
YES
Now MDN is spouting “Take the company private”?? I have posted on this issue before.. Apple cannot take itself private…that makes no sense at all. Please, MDN, take the time to understand things before you comment on them.
External resources are required to take a company private.
With respect to the issues at hand, I find it highly ironic that a company who is an acknowledged leader in renewable energy and recycling and a leading voice in legitimate climate change science is the target of a shareholder proposal on climate change. The same sense of irony and disbelief applies to a shareholder action on human rights.
Apple is already doing its part, and much more. You might want to engage your local, state, and federal governments on these issues. Those are the bozos who need to get their acts together.
Nobody said Apple could take itself private, but you.
Read MDN’s Take again. It does not say what you claim, strawman.
There is, at least, listening to one’s owners, aka shareholders.
I know I personally don’t want to listen to either:
A) Apple can’t ever do enough to save the world from environmental disaster, despite the fact that they’re the single most conscientious company on the planet.
B) Fork over the money and screw the Earth. Short term thinking now now now, to hell with the future, I’m an angry BizTard.
IOW: Extremists are a dime-a-dozen and they can be stupid-as-hell not matter what corner of the philosophical 3D thought realm world they’re from.
BUT: Listening is required. Then let wisest heads prevail.