[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 945 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 945

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require corporations to 
   obtain the views of shareholders concerning corporate charitable 
                             contributions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 1997

 Mr. Gillmor introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require corporations to 
   obtain the views of shareholders concerning corporate charitable 
                             contributions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.

    Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78n) 
is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Approval of Charitable Contributions.--Each issuer of a 
security registered pursuant to section 12 of this title, or a security 
issued by an investment company registered under the Investment Company 
Act of 1940, shall afford to its shareholders the opportunity, on a 
basis proportional to the number of shares owned or controlled by such 
shareholder, to participate through a proxy, consent, or authorization 
in the designation of recipients of the issuer's charitable 
contributions. This subsection shall not be construed to limit or 
otherwise affect the authority of the management of such an issuer to 
designate additional recipients of such contributions. The Commission 
may, by rule, grant exemptions from the requirements of this subsection 
for gifts of tangible personal property, gifts to public or private 
nonprofit educational institutions, and gifts to local charities, 
consistent with the public interest, the protection of investors, and 
the purposes of this subsection.''.
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