(go back), 32Webinar, Pamela Coukos, Co-Founder of Working IDEAL, supra note 23. (go back), 118Id.
BlackRock Breaks Wall Street Ranks With Planned Racial Audit (1) 20091 (August 16, 1983)). That movement, together with the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have focused the attention of the media, the public and policy makers on systemic racism, racialized violence and inequities in employment, health care, and the criminal justice system. [137] The proposed Diversity and Inclusion Data Accountability and Transparency Act would require such audits by independent third parties of the subject companies policies and practices pertaining to civil rights, equity, diversity and inclusion. [138] The initial debates on the draft legislation also considered adding to the draft bill penalties for non-compliance, including fines of up to $20,000 a day for failure to engage in such audits. The audit was led by Laura W. Murphy, a civil rights advocate, with help from a civil rights law firm. [108] Amazon argued that, regardless of the proposal being framed in the form of a request for a report, this did not change the fact that the subject matter of the proposed report is within [Amazons] ordinary business and thus excludable under Rule 14a-8(i)(7). Racial Equity Audits may also find that a companys existing policies and practices are not sufficient to address or may be perpetuating systemic social issues. While the majority of investors perceive the funding landscape as balanced, their actual investments in multicultural and women-owned businesses are highly skewed. S7-11-19, available at https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2020/33-10825.pdf; New Human Capital Disclosure Requirements, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, Margaret Engel, February 6, 2021, available at https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/02/06/new-human-capital-disclosure-requirements/.
Equity in the Boardroom: How Asset Manager Voting Shaped Corporate At the higher end, proxy advisory firms may offer official guidelines on what they believe are minimum actions a company should take with respect to Racial Equity Audits in order to receive the advisors support. In our recent survey, we found by just how much. The California legislature recognized the public desire to move towards greater diversity on public boards and codified set requirements. (go back), 7Statement on the Review of Climate-Related Disclosure, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Acting Chair Allison H. Lee, February 24, 2021, available at https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/lee-statement-review-climate-related-disclosure. Everything we do at Morgan Stanley is guided by our five core values: Do the right thing, put clients first, lead with exceptional ideas, commit to diversity and inclusion, and give back. [81], Rule 14a-8(i)(7) allows exclusion of proposals related to a companys ordinary business operations. CtW dropped the Morgan Stanley proposal after the bank agreed to conduct a racial equity audit.
BlackRock plans racial audit, in break with Wall Street peers CtW Morgan Stanley Racial Equity Audit Proposal SOC Investment Group We provide comprehensive workplace financial solutions for organizations and their employees, combining personalized advice with modern technology. Investors want Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J&J and Amazon to conduct racial equity audits to ensure they can fulfill promises. Second, whether any changes to existing programs or new measures or initiatives, would help a company become more equitable and inclusive. [13] Recently, however, activists have begun to realize that social and environmental issues can also impact their investments, in both negative and positive ways. Recently, Morgan Stanley ( MS +0.65%) and CtW Investment Group reached an agreement for the bank to conduct an internal diversity review, and to meet shareholders on next steps before its 2022 annual meeting. SEC interpretations of this rule provide that proposals that concern ordinary business matters but focus on significant social policy issues would not be excludable because the proposals would transcend the day-to-day business matters. [82] In seeking to exclude Racial Equity Audit proposals, companies argued that these audits concerned day-to-day aspects of their ordinary business operations, including: (i) product sales and advertising; [83] (ii) customer relationships; [84] (iii) the nature of the companys public relations, messaging, and communications with its shareholders and other constituents; [85] (iv) workforce management; [86] (v) relationships with suppliers; [87] (vi) community impacts; [88] or (vii) decisions regarding the products and services [the company] offers. [89] Furthermore, these companies contended that the proposals did not focus on a significant policy issue that transcended their ordinary business. Proponents of Racial Equity Audits warn that such audits should be conducted in a robust manner by fully independent third parties, and that the subject companies take action to address deficiencies, shortcomings and concerns uncovered by the audits. In 2020 and 2021, at least 12 public companies received shareholder proposals to conduct a racial equity audit from pension funds and other shareholder proponents. The chart below lists the proponents who submitted Racial Equity Audit proposals to public companies pursuant to Rule 14a-8 during the 2021 proxy season and the number of proposals they submitted: Source: ISS Corporate Solutions and SEC Filings, Boards of directors of public companies are [i]ncreasingly . (go back), 106Other shareholders joining the proposal were: (1) the Praxis Growth Index Fund; (2) CommonSpirit Health; (3) the Adrian Dominican Sisters; (4) Catherine Donnelly Foundation; (5) Monasterio Pan de Vida; (6) Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, LLC; (7) the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace; (8) the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary U.S.-Ontario Province Corporation; and (9) Newground Social Investment on behalf of the Robert H. and Elizabeth Fergus Foundation and Eric Menninga.
The Citi Blog - Citi Will Conduct a Racial Equity Audit [33] The public announcement of the Racial Equity Audit and related diversity, equity and inclusion efforts appeared to not only rehabilitate Starbucks public image after the incident, but helped the company become the most popular restaurant stock on the S&P 500 with actively managed funds that are dedicated to ESG investing, according to RBC Capital Markets. Votes on the Proposals at JP Morgan & Chase, Goldman Sachs and State Street will take place in the next few weeks. (go back), 96See e.g., Goldman Sachs Proxy Statement, supra note 35 (We share the proponents focus on advancing racial equity.); Citigroup Proxy Statement, supra note 69 (While we disagree with the overall approach in this Proposal, we are completely aligned with its stated goal of addressing racial inequity in the financial sector.); see also Lawmakers debate bill mandating racial equity audits at firms, The Hill, Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer, June 30, 2021, available at https://thehill.com/policy/finance/561026-lawmakers-debate-bill-mandating-racial-equity-audits-at-firms; Shareholders want to hold corporate giants accountable for their commitments to racial equity and justice. (go back), 93See J&J No-Action Letter, supra note 78. (go back), 91See SEC, Division of Corporate Finance Staff Legal Bulletin No.
Racial Equity Audit SOC Investment Group (go back), 65All things (not) being equal, IR Magazine, Ben Maiden, Summer 2021, available at https://content.irmagazine.com/story/ir-magazine-summer-2021.pdf. (go back), 95For a detailed discussion of BlackRocks decision to implement a Racial Equity Audit, see Section IV.A. (go back), 4ESG investing: Discover funds that reflect what matters most to you, The Vanguard Group, Inc., available at https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/esg/. In light of the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in June 2020, the CtW Investment Group has requested systemically important financial institutions to conduct a racial equity audit that identifies, prioritizes, and remedies the adverse impacts of the bank's policies and practices on non-white stakeholders and communities of color. To contact the reporter on this story: As discussed earlier, Starbucks undertook a Racial Equity Audit in 2018. Racial equity audit votes At least 19 proposals calling for a racial equity audit at S&P 500 companies garnered an average of 44% support among shareholders last year, an increase from.
ARTICLE: Racial Equity Audits: A New ESG Initiative Poised to Gain How the Wealthy Sidestep "Wash Sale" Ban to Reap Tax Savings ProPublica Racial Equity Audits can focus on various aspects of a companys business, including the treatment of customers at a companys physical locations, the diversity of senior management, the targeting of products, and even political contributions. [38] Racial Equity Audits can be designed to help identify if and where these issues exist within a company so that management can address them most effectively. urge the Board of Directors to oversee a racial equity audit analyzing JPMorgan's adverse impacts on nonwhite stakeholders and communities of color. According to certain proponents, the point of a Racial Equity Audit is not necessarily to critique a companys current platforms and efforts.
Andrew Santini LinkedIn: I am very proud to announce that I have Even with an increase in the number of shareholder proposals requesting Racial Equity Audits, it is possible that companies may not adopt them as quickly or as widely as the public and/or certain legislative bodies would prefer.