(Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc reversed the course on Friday and told an activist group it could submit a shareholder proposal remotely for the company’s May 1 annual meeting, according to the renewed guidance of the U.S. securities regulator.
Warren Buffett’s insurance and investment company has traditionally attracted thousands to its extravagant annual meeting in Omaha, but, like many major U.S. companies during the coronavirus pandemic, it had asked investors to sign up for the event. meeting remotely instead of attending in person.
The shift to the network has hindered many groups of activist investors whose shareholder resolutions often encourage meetings. Some have been silenced by technology or have been told they could only file resolutions in person despite health risks.
This was the case in Berkshire of As You Sow of Berkeley, California, which filed a measure asking the company’s subsidiaries to report on diversity and inclusion efforts, and was told it should send a representative. in Los Angeles where some executives and staff would gather for the live online broadcast.
Asked about the situation on Friday, Berkshire Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg told Reuters by email:
“We would have preferred As You Sow to present its proposal at the location of the Los Angeles shareholders’ meeting. However, we will provide As You Sow with the opportunity to provide a recording that is reproduced at the meeting as a means to present its shareholder proposal “.
When Sow welcomed the decision. The organization “is not willing to risk the health of other people, so it relieves us that the company has changed course,” President Danielle Fugere told Reuters.
When Berkshire Hathaway contacted the group, he cited new instructions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he said.
As You Sow was part of a group of activists and investors who on April 5 asked the SEC to extend last year’s guidelines to allow for the virtual submission of proposals, which several companies appeared to ban this year, in time for shareholder spring 2021 meeting season.
“From a pandemic security standpoint, it’s not yet time to require advocates to appear in person,” the letter said.
In a statement posted on its website on Friday, the SEC said that, in light of COVID’s concerns, companies were encouraged to “provide shareholder advocates or their representatives with the opportunity to submit their proposals to through alternative means, such as by telephone “during the 2021 season.
The agency also said advocates who could not travel to meetings would have good cause to rethink their proposals later.
Hamburg did not answer questions about how it would treat the management of other shareholder groups.
Ross Kerber Reports; Sonya Hepinstall Edition