In Focus

CII Urges Senate Leaders to Pass Draft Bill on Dual-Class Stock, Diversity Disclosure

CII sent a letter March 18 to Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) urging the Senate to enact the SEC as Investor Advocate Act of 2021. CII’s draft legislation would direct the SEC to require U.S. stock exchanges to adopt certain minimum listing standards recommended in the SEC Investor Advocate’s 2020 annual report. Specifically, the bill directs the SEC to adopt rules requiring the exchanges to prohibit the listing of any company that 1) has multiple classes of common stock with unequal voting rights for more than a certain period of years or 2) fails to make adequate disclosure of the diversity of its board of directors and senior executives. More broadly, the draft bill also would give the SEC clear statutory authority to set minimum listing standards that apply to all exchanges and associations for investor protection purposes.

CII Members Elect Board of Directors for 2021-2022

The CII Board of Directors welcomed five new members on March 11 as five other members stepped down from the board. The new directors for 2021-2022 are: Kathleen Hoffman, Teacher Retirement System of Texas; Aeisha Mastagni, California State Teachers’ Retirement System; Michael McCauley, Florida State Board of Administration; Elizabeth Parisian, American Federation of Teachers; and Tejal Patel, SEIU Affiliates’ Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan/CtW Investment Group. They join returning board members Ron Baker, Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association; Margaret Foran, Prudential Financial; Mary Francis, Chevron; Patti Gazda, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System; Louis Malizia, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Thomas McIntyre, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers; Simiso Nzima, California Public Employees’ Retirement System; Mansco Perry, Minnesota State Board of Investment; Mitch Vogel, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois; and Scott Zdrazil, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association. The board co-chairs for 2021-2022 are Margaret Foran (corporate fund members), Louis Malizia (labor fund members) and Aeisha Mastagni (public fund members). Mansco Perry will serve as board treasurer. Thomas McIntyre will serve as board secretary. Ron Baker and Scott Zdrazil are vying for board chair in a runoff election to be determined by a vote of the public fund members, in keeping with CII’s bylaws. The departing directors are former Board Secretary Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust; Board Co-Chair Michael Garland, New York City Pension Funds; Board Co-Chair John Keenan, AFSCME Pension Plan; Jennifer Peet, Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, and Board Chair Ash Williams, Florida State Board of Administration. CII is deeply grateful for their service and support.