Sometime this summer, Harvey J. Goldschmid will complete his term as Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will return to Columbia University School of Law, where he serves as Dwight Professor of Law. As one of two reigning Democrats along with Roel Campos, Goldschmid has frequently lined up along with chairman William Donaldson. He has been especially vocal about the SEC’s controversial proxy access proposal, which lays out a two-step process under which shareholders could nominate directors to a company’s board, under certain conditions. The potential rule, however, is seemingly on hold in the face of strong, vociferous opposition from a large number of pro-business groups.
In an attempt to rekindle the proposal, Goldschmid recently trotted out a simplified, alternative plan during a speech to the Council of Institutional Investors, whereby one year after a majority of shareholders withhold their votes for any board member, investors who hold at least 5 percent of a company’s total shares would be able to propose their own slate of nominees for a minority of seats on a board.
