Press Statement: New Trump Order Threatens Investor Rights and Corporate Accountability

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, [email protected], (310) 730-9407 

EL CERRITO, CA—December 12, 2025 — Last night, the Trump Administration issued an executive order called “protecting American investors from foreign-owned and politically motivated proxy advisors.” While per-formatively decrying the politicization of the investment arena, the Order’s mandates will interfere with, and radically encumber, independent market transactions; inappropriately control and limit information available to investors; and impose an irrational set of beliefs in place of well-informed investor decision making.

For instance, the executive order directs the Chairman of the SEC to revise or repeal the Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposal process. Rule 14a-8 has been in place since 1942 and has long provided investors and corporations with a vital mechanism to raise and address issues relevant to corporate governance, risk, and long-term value. Why is this Rule at issue now? Because investor proposals have sought information and action on climate change, diversity in the workplace, and other environmental, social, and governance issues that impact company value.  Environmental, social, and governance issues are material to long-term profitability, risk management, and systemic portfolio-wide risk.  

While the Administration suggests that environmental and social issues are political, not financial issues, investors have demonstrated the opposite. Shareholder proposals that address climate change, for example, have garnered majority votes of investors and their fiduciaries. Moreover, a large percentage of corporations have openly acknowledged the importance of acting to reduce climate-harming emissions. 

“In a public market, investors appropriately raise issues of concern with companies and seek material information to inform their capital investment decisions,” said Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel at As You Sow. “Similarly, hiring proxy advisors to gather information and make recommendations is not a sinister plot that must be investigated and curbed, but an important mechanism to inform the sound investment of capital.”  

Every system developed by humanity has proven to be imperfect. Improving systems is best done slowly and thoughtfully. This is not the case with this executive order. The breadth of the Order, its unfounded assumptions, and its mandate to immediately review regulations in ways that could ultimately upend longstanding regulatory systems will create uncertainty that harms our public markets. Further, the order’s implicit goal of denying consideration of material issues like climate change, diversity, and other environmental and socials issues is short-sighted and harmful, particularly for long term investors such as retirement and pensions funds. 

“The executive order entirely ignores the financial benefits and pecuniary outperformance resulting from shareholder proposals,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “Boards of directors of every publicly traded company report to their shareholders. Shareholder proposals provide critically important perspectives to boards on issues of material risk and opportunity, informing this important relationship. The executive order is an attempt to undercut transparency and information which are basic tenets of free market capitalism.”

The irony of this Order is that it comes at a time when U.S. markets are at historically high levels. Shareholder proposals, and reasonable regulations, have enabled the U.S. market and the corporations and investors within it to create unprecedented wealth. This Executive Order nonetheless calls on agencies to begin systematically attacking and encumbering existing regulatory mechanisms that have effectively served the market’s goals.

Now is the time for investors and corporations alike to call for a pause; to seek a collective breath to rationally assess where systems can be improved and where they should be left alone to continue serving the best interests of the market and its constituents.” 

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As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30+ year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.