CORPORATE DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL SPENDINGPRESENTATION CENTER 0 Senate Democrats Renew Push for Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending Renewed Push for Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending Top Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren (MA), Charles Schumer (NY), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Bob Menendez (NJ) step up pressure on the SEC to move on new rules to require corporations to disclose political contributions Recent Action Toward a Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending Requirement Letter to SEC Chairman Calls for Corporate Requirement to Disclose Political Spending In August 2015, 44 Senate Democrats wrote a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, calling on the agency to craft a rule to require corporate disclosure of political contributions Spending Bill Includes Provision to Restrict SEC in FY16 A provision in a major federal spending bill prevents the SEC from using FY16 funds to “finalize or implement” a rule on disclosure of political contributions, or contributions to trade associations and other tax-exempt organizations; however the provision does not prevent the SEC from proposing the rule to be implemented in 2017 Aug 2015 Dec 2015 Jan 2016 January 22, 2016 | Alexander Perry Sources: Andrew Ackerman, “Senate Democrats Renew Push for Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending,” Wall Street Journal, Jan 21, 2016; Andrew Ackerman, “Senate Democrats Press SEC on Companies’ Political Donations,” Wall Street Journal, Aug 31, 2015.

CORPORATE DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL SPENDINGPRESENTATION CENTER 1 Proposal to Require Corporate Disclosure of Political Expenditures Would Force SEC to Implement New Rule Overview of the Debate About Requiring Corporations to Disclose their Political Spending January 22, 2016 | Alexander Perry Sources: Andrew Ackerman, “Senate Democrats Renew Push for Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending,” Wall Street Journal, Jan 21, 2016; Andrew Ackerman, “Senate Democrats Press SEC on Companies’ Political Donations,” Wall Street Journal, Aug 31, 2015; Noun Project, Sarah Throne-Ploehn, Those in favor of mandating political spending disclosure by corporations argue that such a rule would allow for greater transparency into the connection between corporations and political figures and thus better help shareholders manage their risk Those opposed to such requirements argue that companies’ political contributions generally do not affect their financial performance in a material way  Debate over requiring the disclosures grew louder following the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which eliminated the limits on corporate political expenditures. The most recent push by Senate Democrats coincides with the sixth anniversary of the decision SEC Chairman Mary Jo White has signaled little interest in taking on the rules and suggested in an October 2013 speech that such mandates on the SEC “seem more directed at exerting societal pressure on companies to change behavior, rather than to disclose financial information that primarily informs investment decisions”