Co-Filers Wanted on Petition to Eliminate Street Name Registration
I’m working with the United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) on a petition to the SEC to end “street name registration.” That largely ad hoc system took root under emergency conditions stemming from a paperwork crisis during the 1960s, before networked computers were ubiquitous in trading markets. Street name registration, and a system that immobilized stock, were supposed to be temporary measures but they have grown to undermine our ownership culture. Just as poker chips allow us to play under rules that often favor the house, those holding “security entitlements” do not acquire the rights of real shareowners.
Street name registration is the primary reason proxy solicitations cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—and that exorbitant cost is why entrenched boards routinely run unopposed. Eliminating street name registration, in favor of a direct registration system, could bring the cost of s proxy solicitation down to a few thousand dollars, which would have a bigger impact on shareowner rights than the SEC’s proposed proxy access initiate. It would also eliminate the use of voter information forms and other vehicles that circumvent the legal rights of shareowners with official proxies.
We welcome interested parties to co-sign the petition with us. The January 12, 2010 draft petition may go though minor revisions, based on your recommendations, but the substantive points will remain. We intend to submit the petition by the end of January to help ensure it is considered by staff preparing recommendations to the Commission concerning how to resolve various “proxy mechanics” issues. If you are interested in signing on to the petition, please e-mail Glyn Holton, Executive Director, United States Proxy Exchange, indicating you want to co-sign, and provide the following:
+ Your signature block with your organization affiliation, if any
+ Please note the affiliation is for “identification purposes only” if you are not signing on behalf of the organization
+ Please include a small pdf of your signature that can be used in the filing
Street name registration is the primary reason proxy solicitations cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—and that exorbitant cost is why entrenched boards routinely run unopposed. Eliminating street name registration, in favor of a direct registration system, could bring the cost of s proxy solicitation down to a few thousand dollars, which would have a bigger impact on shareowner rights than the SEC’s proposed proxy access initiate. It would also eliminate the use of voter information forms and other vehicles that circumvent the legal rights of shareowners with official proxies.
We welcome interested parties to co-sign the petition with us. The January 12, 2010 draft petition may go though minor revisions, based on your recommendations, but the substantive points will remain. We intend to submit the petition by the end of January to help ensure it is considered by staff preparing recommendations to the Commission concerning how to resolve various “proxy mechanics” issues. If you are interested in signing on to the petition, please e-mail Glyn Holton, Executive Director, United States Proxy Exchange, indicating you want to co-sign, and provide the following:
+ Your signature block with your organization affiliation, if any
+ Please note the affiliation is for “identification purposes only” if you are not signing on behalf of the organization
+ Please include a small pdf of your signature that can be used in the filing
Tags: SEC, mechanics, petition, plumbing, proxy, reform, rights, shareowner
- Attachments:
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Proxy Mechanics-2010-1-12.doc, 279 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James McRitchie on
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Attached is the latest draft. We're accepting sign-ons until about Feb 14. Please e-mail any suggested changes or approvals to Glyn Holton, since I'm off continent for a couple of weeks. Glyn Holton
It still needs some recognition of the concern investors will have with instant recognition of transactions. If that is a feature, then too many institutional investors will oppose it and it will go nowhere. We need some sort of delay. Maybe piggyback off Form 13... disclosure 45 days from the end of each calendar quarter and more immediate reporting on the record date for annual elections or proxy contests. More likely, we will acknowledge the issue but be vague about specifics. I'd love to get some suggestions on that issue. - Attachments:
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Proxy Mechanics-2010-1-28.pdf, 286 KB
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Permalink Reply by BCInvest on -
I will bring this to the attention of the anti Illegal Naked Short Selling Community who will have an interest in this issue. The two issues dovetail together nicely. I also plan on making some edits to what I see as flaws in logic. Overall the request is outstanding and it is long overdue. Congratulation for taking the lead and pushing this project forward.
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Great! Please e-mail Glyn Holton at mail@glynholton.com with recommendations, since I'll be mostly unavailable for next two weeks.
BCInvest said:I will bring this to the attention of the anti Illegal Naked Short Selling Community who will have an interest in this issue. The two issues dovetail together nicely. I also plan on making some edits to what I see as flaws in logic. Overall the request is outstanding and it is long overdue. Congratulation for taking the lead and pushing this project forward.
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