Fitch Group

23 state AGs demand top ratings agencies explain ESG-driven downgrades

MassBio’s Open Letter: A Massive Constraint on Biopharmaceutical Businesses

Approximately 219 companies have signed a vague and contradictory open letter urging biopharmaceutical firms to abandon their core mission. MassBio, the Massachusetts-based DEI resource center, created an open letter calling on companies and their leadership to abide by unnecessary DEI measures. These measures implement diverse BIPOC policy practices into biopharmaceutical businesses. By joining, these signatory companies don’t receive any advancements within the medical sphere but subject themselves to vague social commitments that constrain biopharma principles and objectives. The open letter holds back biopharmaceutical businesses through explicit actions: DEI requirements in recruitment, hiring, executive compensation, external partnerships, and company programming. At 1792 Exchange, we recognize these practices are bad for business because they take away from the merit expectation found within leadership. No longer is simple experience being looked at for genuine business benefit; instead, diversity becomes standard. Meaning, a new business partnership looks for diversity over merit. Furthermore, the open letter also constrains these businesses through vague commitments: using corporate influence to promote internal DEI initiatives, encouraging employees to “self-educate on racism and contribute to the race dialogue,” and establishing leadership accountability for reporting microaggressions. Biopharmaceutical companies exist to advance medicine and improve patient outcomes—not to shape social or racial …

Microsoft Directs Benevity to Drop SPLC Filter

Microsoft has directed Benevity to stop using the SPLC’s “hate map” to filter nonprofits from its employee gift-matching program. The Daily Signal credits 1792 Exchange, alongside Bowyer Research and The Heritage Foundation, for the shareholder activism that is moving companies away from discriminating against conservatives. Thanks to shareholder activism from 1792 Exchange, Bowyer Research, The Heritage Foundation, and others, a growing list of companies has directed Benevity to stop using the SPLC. The list includes American Express, AT&T, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Nvidia, and Salesforce. The full article can be found in Daily Caller.

Bowyer Research Cites 1792 Exchange Data in SPLC Shareholder Engagement Campaign

Bowyer Research used 1792 Exchange’s research to identify and engage 150+ companies connected to the SPLC, who donated directly through associated corporate foundations or probable indirect support through Benevity. Companies that donate to the SPLC, or have in recent years, need to give an account for how they plan on avoiding support to politicized organizations in the future. Companies that outsource their charitable policies to third-party providers like Benevity need to make clear whether they’re relying on SPLC diagnostics that Benevity offers as a screen. Our friends and co-laborers at 1792 Exchange identified a list of more than 150 companies connected to the SPLC, either via Benevity usage or direct donations to the SPLC. In the wake of the DOJ’s indictment of the SPLC, we sent a version of the following to those companies. The full article and letter can be found HERE.

SEC’s No-Action Retreat Proves Critics Wrong

Last fall, the SEC stopped providing informal guidance on whether companies could exclude shareholder proposals from their ballots, putting the full weight of decision in companies’ hands. But did the chaos the critics predicted ever materialize? Skeptics warned of a surge in litigation from proponents whose proposals got left off the ballot. Litigation over excluded proposals increased from its historically rare baseline, but topped out at just six cases. One was resolved in the company’s favor. Three were settled. The wave never came. Others feared an increase in shareholder proposals being left off the ballot. That was also debunked. Cooley LLP and ISS-Corporate both noted that proxy season trends remained consistent, and the proposal omission rate was similar to years past. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins put it plainly at the Society for Corporate Governance Conference earlier this month: “Nearly eight months later, it is clear that neither of these dire predictions materialized, and I am happy to report that the world did not end simply because the Commission staff stopped responding to no-action requests.” The takeaway: companies are capable of deciding what makes it onto the ballot themselves, especially given years of prior SEC guidance. If the proxy season ran …

Beyond the Flag: What American Companies Really Owe Their Country

As America commemorates the 250th anniversary of its founding, we rightly celebrate the courage and convictions that declared a new nation into existence. That declaration was not merely a political act. It was a daring risk that launched a world-changing experiment in ordered liberty where individuals could build, trade, and innovate without the heavy hand of arbitrary authority. At the heart of that success has always been American enterprise, the engine of innovation and opportunity. This Independence Day invites a timely question. What does it truly mean to be an American company in a time when that identity carries real weight? Legal papers and headquarters addresses tell only the first chapter of the story. A firm can incorporate in Delaware, maintain offices in U.S. cities, and still ship jobs overseas, police the private speech of its employees, or push divisive social causes that alienate its own employees and customers. Such a business may operate inside America, but it does nothing to fundamentally strengthen the nation that gave it every opportunity for success. Location sets the starting line. Character determines whether a company deserves the title of truly American. This standard is not a modern notion. It traces its roots back …