April 28--Northern Trust Corp. beat back a shareholder proposal that would have required the Chicago-based company to update its stockholders semiannually about lobbying and political spending.
Northern Trust, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday, said it received 126.1 million votes against the proposal and 49.8 million for it.
The proposal was made by the Massachusetts Laborers' Pension Fund, which owns about 400 Northern Trust common shares.
The Burlington, Mass.-based fund wanted Northern Trust to provide a report, updated semiannually, disclosing the amounts that the company has spent on lobbying or contributed to political candidates or parties.
Northern Trust's board recommended voting against the proposal, saying that its political action committees already publicly report their contributions periodically to the Federal Election Commission and state election authorities, and that the company complies with U.S. and state laws regarding lobbying disclosure.
"The board believes that in light of the fact that Northern Trust already provides all legally required disclosures regarding political contributions and lobbying activities, much of which is already publicly available, this proposal is duplicative, and would cause the corporation to expend unnecessary resources without providing any appreciable benefit to its stockholders," Northern Trust argued.
byerak@tribpub.com
