Record 22,500 Investors Speak Out Against Potential SEC
Curbs on Shareholder Resolutions, Role in Board Nominations

SEC Staff Indicates No Previous Comment Period Has Attracted So Many Comments; Strong Wave of Opposition Reflects Findings of National Opinion Survey.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///October 10, 2007///An unprecedented outpouring of roughly 22,500 investor comments opposing potential anti-shareholder rights proposals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to set a new record for such feedback to the Commission, according to statements made by SEC staff to the Social Investment Forum (SIF) in meetings last week.

The formal SEC comment period closed last Tuesday (October 2, 2007). Among the 22,500 comments opposed to new curbs on the rights of shareholders were 1,687 generated by www.SaveShareholderRights.org, a joint project of SIF and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). By the time of the SEC deadline, an additional 6,916 emails had been generated via the www.SaveShareholderRights.org Web site platform to members of Congress.

With only a tiny handful of comments on the public record supporting the controversial proposals, the overwhelming expression of opposition parallels national opinion survey findings released on September 25, 2007 by nine leading investment companies and religious institutional organizations. That scientific survey found that only about a third or less of U.S. investors support any of the five potential approaches outlined by the SEC to curb the rights of shareholders to file shareholder resolutions and participate in the process of selecting members of corporate boards.

The September 25, 2007 survey of U.S. investors was sponsored by Calvert Group Ltd., Pax World Management Corp., Trillium Asset Management Corporation, SIF, ICCR, Boston Common Asset Management, First Affirmative Financial Network, Marianists Province of the United States, and Green Century Capital Management. For full findings from the survey of 1,133 U.S. investors, go to http://www.saveshareholderrights.org/092507release.cfm on the Web.

SIF Board Chair Tim Smith, who also is senior vice president of Walden Asset Management, said: “It is significant and worth noting that only a very small number of business interests wrote in support of the SEC test proposals to eliminate or curtail the right to file shareholder resolutions. Conspicuous in their isolated and extreme positions against shareholder rights were the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, Xerox, Apache and GM. However, these companies and the industry associations stood alone without visible support from the vast majority of corporate America. Our conversations with dozens of other companies found dissatisfaction with the Chamber and the Roundtable for their disrespectful and simplistic dismissal of the concerns of large and small investors. These isolated letters stood out in their casual disregard for the rights of institutional investors who legitimately exercise their rights to petition the companies they own through the proxy resolution process."

SIF CEO Lisa Woll said: “This is a resounding ‘thumbs down’ from U.S. investors to the possible approaches outlined by the SEC that would undercut shareholder advocacy and limit the involvement of investors in corporate boards. A clear majority of American investors understand that shareholder advocacy is vital to promoting wider corporate social responsibility, which, in turn, strengthens the bottom lines of companies and results in more long-term wealth for shareholders. What we are seeing here is common sense prevailing: Most U.S. investors agree that the SEC should be further opening up corporate boardrooms, rather than shielding them from the scrutiny and feedback that is legitimately being offered by the American investors who are stakeholders in these publicly owned companies.”

BACKGROUND

On August 29, 2007, SIF and ICCR launched the www.SaveShareholderRights.org Web site, which has facilitated the submission of roughly 9,000 total investor emails (as of 5 p.m. EDT on October 5, 2007) to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress in opposition to the shareholder curbs now under discussion at the SEC. Socially responsible and religious investors first indicated on July 24, 2007 that they would oppose any SEC rollback of shareholder rights – one day before the Commission put out for comment two proposals that would open the door to a substantial weakening of shareholder rights in the proxy process and in the selection of board members. The current campaign by socially responsible and religious investors aims to surpass by a significant margin the outcry that ensued in 1997-1998 when more than 300 socially responsible investing, religious, labor and other groups coalesced to oppose an earlier SEC staff plan to gut the shareholder resolution process. The groups prevailed in that fight in which the SEC was forced to withdraw its widely criticized proposal.

ABOUT THE GROUPS

The Social Investment Forum (http://www.socialinvest.org) is the national membership association for the social investment industry. It is dedicated to the concept, practice, and growth of socially responsible investing. The Forum's 500-plus members include financial planners, banks, mutual fund companies, research companies, foundations, and community investing institutions.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is a coalition of nearly 300 faith-based institutional investors, representing over $100 billion in invested capital. ICCR members bridge the divide between morality and markets by envisioning a civic economy that integrates ethical, environmental and social values. Inspired by faith, committed to action, ICCR members work to build a just and sustainable global community.

CONTACT:
Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio recording of the September 25, 2007 news event for the release of U.S. investor survey is available on the Web at http://www.SaveShareholderRights.org.

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