维权股东动真格，商界准备好了吗

    曼哈顿研究所（Manhattan Institute）开设的网站ProxyMonitor.org专门跟踪股东提案，其研究表明，在今年截至目前为止的委托书征集/股东年会季节里，多数股东提案都要求公司更多地披露政治捐款或游说。然而，继续执行针对CEO的战术可能时间不足了，今年的委托书征集/股东年会季节从四月中旬开始，下个月中就要结束了。

    但随着股东寻求关于政治捐款和游说费用的更多细节，特别是这些费用的用途到底是和公司利益一致，还是出于个人喜好，导致CEO的选择和公司的政治倾向将受到更加严密的审视。股东跟踪组织As You Sow的最新报告发现，多数公司并未披露政治捐款和游说费用的细节。

    班布里奇预言：“我认为对政治捐款的关注和剖析将会一直持续下去。”

    维权股东未来还可能提出更多的要求，如加大在高管薪酬上的发言权，增强董事会的多元化，替换低能董事，提高在公司生产环境和童工使用问题上的透明度。如果是摩根大通那样的情况（杰米•戴蒙身兼两职），分割首席执行官和董事会主席的职位也会提上议事日程。

    这类挑战不但来自传统的工会养老基金，而且来自某些过去少见的组织，比如宗教团体，他们通常不会对高管的简历挑三拣四，但现在也试图左右高管薪酬的决定方式。 过去两年间，费城圣方济各修女会（the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia）、卡明斯基金会（the Nathan Cummings Foundation）和其它持有高盛（Goldman Sachs）股票的宗教组织在推动审查高管薪酬的提案。

    这些提案只征集到少量股东的支持，但他们在去年要求披露高管和一般雇员薪酬比率时，还是获得了公众强烈关注。由于证券交易委员会（SEC）判定高盛已经回应了这项质询，今年将其提交股东表决的努力宣告失败。

    ProxyMonitor.org得分卡跟踪大型公司的股东提案，其研究表明，在初始股东授权书备案文件中，针对与官员薪酬无关的社会或政治目标的股东提案数量在减少。很多公司在多德-弗兰克法案（Dodd-Frank law）之后，也已经承诺将进行官员薪酬的年度审查。

    公众持股公司的不佳表现并不是首席执行官下台的充分条件，但正如我们在雅虎的例子里看到的，这时候只须在高管的背景中找到品行不端的证据，就可以引发足够的怒火来推动人事变更。

    在汤普森的例子里，股东对雅虎无法找到有效的、长期的业务方向已经越来越不满，他的虚假简历不过是导火线而已。第三点基金（Third Point）对其篡改学历的揭发则彻底埋葬了他的前途。 第三点基金的经理人丹尼尔•洛布目前已经入主雅虎董事会，但该基金没有回应要求采访的电话。

    According to ProxyMonitor.org, operated by the Manhattan Institute, which tracks shareholder proposals, a plurality of all proposals introduced to date this proxy season call for more corporate disclosure of political spending or lobbying. However, forging ahead with more CEO-centered tactics may have to wait since the proxy season, which began around mid-April, ends in the middle of next month.

    But CEO choices and political leanings will come under greater scrutiny as shareholders seek greater detail about campaign contributions and lobbying expenses, and whether they align with corporate interests or personal preferences. A recent report by the shareholder tracking organization, As You Sow, found that most corporations have not been disclosing details of their campaign contributions and lobbying expenses.

    "I think we will see continued attention to and parsing of political campaign donations," predicts Bainbridge.

    Shareholder activists may also call for additional say on executive compensation, more diversity among directors, replacing ineffective directors, and more transparency on company factory conditions and the use of child labor. Also on the agenda, in cases like J.P. Morgan, is splitting the office of chief executive and chairman in companies where executives like Jamie Dimon hold both posts.

    Such challenges recently have come not only from labor union pension funds but also from some less likely places, like religious groups, which typically have not been bird-dogging executive resumes -- to try to shape how executive pay packages are awarded. For two years, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and other religious institutions that own Goldman Sachs shares pushed proposals to review executive pay.

    Such proposals have rallied only a tiny slice of shareholder support, but the effort to disclose pay ratios between executives and employees garnered a flurry of public attention when it was introduced last year. An effort to bring it to a shareholders' vote this year was derailed when the Securities and Exchange Commission decided Goldman already had addressed the issue.

    The ProxyMonitor.org Score Card, which tracks shareholder proposals at large companies, reports that initial proxy filings turned up somewhat fewer shareholder proposals aimed at social or political goals unrelated to executive compensation. Many companies, in the wake of the federal Dodd-Frank law, already have committed to review executive compensation on an annual basis.

    Bad performance at publicly held companies does not always mean that the chief executive is on the chopping block, but as we have seen with Yahoo, finding a salacious gem in an executive's background can ignite enough disgruntlement to force change.

    In Thompson's case, his resume-padding came as shareholders were increasingly dissatisfied with Yahoo's inability to steer an effective, long-term business course. The discovery of his altered credentials by activist hedge fund Third Point sealed his departure. Third Point, run by investor Daniel Loeb, who will be joining the Yahoo board, did not return a phone call for an interview.