SEC Defense
Earlier this month, Roisman gave a speech defending the agency’s approach, saying that much of the criticism has been “based entirely on misinformation” and riddled with “myths.” Roisman, who is leading the SEC’s work on the issue, specifically rejected a frequent claim that the regulator is doing the bidding of corporate lobbyists.
An SEC spokeswoman and a lawyer in Roisman’s office declined to comment on Icahn’s letter.
Icahn, a Trump supporter who has broadly defended the president’s de-regulatory agenda, didn’t accuse the SEC of intentionally doing the bidding of big business. But he insisted that the agency’s proposals would inappropriately give corporate insiders new standing to sue proxy advisors for simply issuing analysis that companies disagree with. Roisman has disputed that the SEC rule changes would do that.
In the SEC’s plans, proxy advisors would generally be required to share their recommendations twice with management before shareholders could see them. Proxy advisors would also have to disclose conflicts of interest.
“It’s very hard, very expensive for someone to go in and try to fight them,” Icahn, in the interview, said of corporate management. “Now they’re going to make it harder.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.