Red Alert at the SEC

Last week, Public Citizen sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the agency to issue Johnson & Johnson a “no action” letter stating that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) will take no enforcement action if the company excludes from its proxy materials a shareholder proposal that would allow the company to force everyday investors into secretive, binding arbitration.

The letter notes that failing to issue a no action letter in a timely manner would constitute a significant change in longstanding SEC policy without the deliberative process that SEC Chairman Jay Clayton publicly pledged to undertake.

Public Citizen and coalition partners are on red alert to protect investors’ access to justice, and will continue to advocate for the SEC to place investors’ rights ahead of protecting corporate wrongdoing. Read the whole letter here.