Oct. 17, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should require corporate managers to be honest with their shareholders about how they are planning for the long term. Shareholders have a right to know if oil executives are trying to buy off politicians to slow progress on addressing climate change. They also have a right to know whether the company is cultivating diversity on its board or moving profits abroad to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. These are just a few examples of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks that the SEC should require public companies to disclose to their shareholders and the public. Maybe the solution is to return our stock market to its original purpose, to tell the truth to the share holder. Otherwise what is the function of such institution? They should be investigating where the money goes, infrastructure, building new facilities, investing in growth not buying back shares. That is like adding air to a balloon and expecting it will not blow up. Stock market must go back to be the guardian that checks the activities of the corporation and must keep the shareholder truly informed of the corporation management activities. The corporations will always do what is convenient for the owners even if it is only a temporary increase in dividends without any future. They pocket the profit and leave the share holder abandon to its own lack of info and trying to understand what happened with their money now gone. Remember the shareholders that jumped to their death in 1929? Thank you for considering my comment. Graciela Huth