The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:32:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.10 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending a Needed First Step – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending a Needed First Step https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2011/08/30/disclosure-of-corporate-political-spending-a-needed-first-step/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disclosure-of-corporate-political-spending-a-needed-first-step https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2011/08/30/disclosure-of-corporate-political-spending-a-needed-first-step/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:17:16 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/?p=20632?d=20150113160953EST Posted by George Dallas, F&C Management Ltd., on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Editor's Note:

George Dallas is Director of Corporate Governance at F&C Management Ltd. and chair of the Business Ethics Committee at the International Corporate Governance Network. This post is based on an ICGN comment letter by Mr. Dallas and Christianna Wood submitted to the SEC, available here. The petition that is referenced in the comment letter is available on the SEC website here, and a post by Lucian Bebchuk and Robert Jackson, co-chairs of the committee submitting the petition, is available here.

The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) would like to voice its support for the recent petition that was sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 3, 2011 by the Committee on Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending, advocating a rulemaking project to require disclosure of corporate political spending to public company shareholders. The ICGN concurs with this group of academic experts in corporate and securities law that more robust disclosure of corporate political spending is of interest to investors. While the ICGN’s purview is a global one, we believe this matter is particularly relevant in the United States given last year’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which confirmed the rights of U.S. companies to provide funding for political purposes.

The ICGN recognises that corporate political activity can be positive. However when corporate resources are deployed to seek political influence there is also potential for abuse. In the extreme this can lead to serious breaches of business ethics, particularly when influence is sought through corrupt practices or in ways that are not consistent with promoting the long-term interests of the company and its investors.

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