In a party-line vote, the SEC approved a rule that will suppress the voices of independent proxy advisory firms that tens of millions of investors depend on. Better Markets says the rule will weaken an important check on corporate power.

Lev Bagramian, Senior Securities Policy Advisor for Better Markets, says the rule will harm investors and give corporate management new powers to suppress the voices of proxy advisory firms.

While not well known or understood by the general public, these firms are a critically important check on corporate power, Bagramian says.

“These firms are a market-based solution that supply investors who do not have the time or resources to research the proxy issues themselves with independent and useful information on how shareholders should vote their proxies,” Bagramian says. “The SEC has approved a clearly ideologically driven rule that was lobbied for by corporations and their trade associations for years.”