Stockholders and Disclosure

The Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) came through with few surprises and no major controversies this spring. It merely continued on its moderately liberal way on most proxy issues, guided by a consistent majority of the committee.

Set up by President Bok in the aftermath of a Mass Hall takeover in 1972 over the University's ownership of stock in Gulf Oil--which had extensive holdings in the then-Portuguese colony of Angola--the ACSR had one opportunity this year to give a general opinion on corporate responsibility: its April response to a Securities and Exchange Commission ruling soliciting investors' opinions on amending present corporate disclosure regulations.

The ACSR came out for broader public disclosure of corporations' equal employment hiring trends, political contributions and environmental impact of corporate activities, advising the SEC that such measures were necessary to insure shareholders' "knowledge."

Still, behind the committee's opinion was a liberal hope--stated by some members--that broader disclosure rules would shame many corporations into making internal reforms. The Corporation Subcommittee on Shareholder Responsibility endorsed the ACSR's letter to the SEC.