Democrats seek to end Trump-era shareholder and lending rules News
AFGE, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Democrats seek to end Trump-era shareholder and lending rules

Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced a resolution to undo a Trump-era rule that curbed shareholder voting rights.

The resolution seeks to change a rule issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last November that raised the ownership threshold for when a shareholder can force a vote on specific issues. The SEC claimed the change was designed to modernize the shareholder-proposal process, but opponents argue that the new rule prevents shareholders from pushing for corporate accountability on matters such as climate change or executive compensation. The resolution was introduced by senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) who in a statement to Reuters called the SEC rule “another ploy by the Trump Administration to undermine shareholder democracy.”

On Friday Representative Jesus Garcia (D-IL) introduced a resolution taking aim at another rule passed under the Trump administration, the True Lender Rule which the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said would alleviate uncertainty about the relationship between banks and third parties. Opponents of the rule say that it allows predatory pay-day lenders to evade state loan interest rate caps. Congressman Garcia called on Congress to “act quickly to repeal this flawed rule that undermines important safeguards set by state governments.”

Both resolutions were introduced under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which only requires a majority vote to pass. Democrats currently hold majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.