Download or read book What Theory and the Empirical Evidence Tell Us About Proxy Access written by Bernard S. Sharfman and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditionally, the default rules of corporate and securities law have provided a public companyņs board of directors with exclusive authority to decide whether shareholder proposals on proxy access are to be included in that companyņs proxy solicitation materials. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently amended its rules to allow such proposals to be included whether or not a board approves. This study recommends that the SEC return to its traditional approach to proxy access and furthermore urges the SEC not to put universal proxy access back on its agenda absent consistent empirical evidence that shows proxy access to be value enhancing. These recommendations are efficiency based. The study argues that the board is the locus of authority and possesses expertise and access to information that is not available to shareholders and is thus presumed to be in a better position to determine whether proxy access is wealth enhancing for shareholders.