SEC is Keeping Shareholders in the Dark on Corporate Political Spending Disclosure

``Last week, the S.E.C. unwisely removed from its regulatory agenda a plan to consider a rule to require public companies to disclose their political spending -- even though the case for disclosure is undeniable... Without disclosure, shareholders have no way to assess whether corporate political spending benefits them, and every reason to believe it is fraught with risks to the corporate brand, business reputation, the bottom line and, by extension, shareholder returns.''