Co-Filers Wanted on Petition to Eliminate Street Name Registration

As I indicated in my last post (Can We Change Voting Behavior?), I’m working with the United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) on a petition to the SEC to end “street name registration.” That largely ad hoc system took root under emergency conditions stemming from a paperwork crisis during the 1960s, before networked computers were ubiquitous in trading markets. Street name registration, and a system that immobilized stock, were supposed to be temporary measures but they have grown to undermine our ownership culture. Just as poker chips allow us to play under rules that often favor the house, those holding “security entitlements” do not acquire the rights of real shareowners.

Street name registration is the primary reason proxy solicitations cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—and that exorbitant cost is why entrenched boards routinely run unopposed. Eliminating street name registration, in favor of a direct registration system, could bring the cost of proxy solicitation down to a few thousand dollars, which would have a bigger impact on shareowner rights than the SEC's proposed proxy access initiative. It would also eliminate the use of voter information forms and other vehicles that circumvent the legal rights of shareowners with official proxies.

We welcome interested parties to co-sign the petition with us. The January 12, 2010 draft petition may go though minor revisions, based on your recommendations, but the substantive points will remain. We intend to submit the petition by the end of January to help ensure it is considered by staff preparing recommendations to the Commission concerning how to resolve various "proxy mechanics" issues. If you are interested in signing on to the petition, please e-mail Glyn Holton, Executive Director, United States Proxy Exchange, indicating you want to co-sign, and provide the following:

• Your signature block with your organization affiliation, if any


• Please note the affiliation is for "identification purposes only" if you are not signing on behalf of the organization


• Please include a small pdf of your signature that can be used in the filing