Even the most ardent supporters of rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose more information about their political contributions and lobbying efforts didn’t expect much movement on the issue from a Securities and Exchange Commission that is well behind on writing Dodd-Frank Act and JOBS Act rules.
Now, however, activists have received a dose of unexpected optimism, while companies have reason to prepare for more public scrutiny of their political giving efforts. Earlier this month, the SEC updated its unified agenda, a roadmap for rulemaking in the coming months, adding a political disclosure rule with the projected timeline of April for a first proposal on the topic.
