Institutional investors ask company shareholders to stop political donations

Trillium Asset Management and Green Century Capital Management, two investment firms, have filed shareholder resolutions at Bank of America, 3M and Target asking the companies to stop future political donations, according to Law.com. Trillium filed its shareholder resolutions at BofA and at 3M while Green Century filed with Target. In their press release, the investment firms indicated they targeted Target and 3M because the two backed an anti-gay candidate in the 2010 Minnesota governor’s race despite the fact that both have corporate anti-discrimination policies covering gays. Common Cause and the US Public Interest Research Group have also announced that they are launching a campaign against corporate political campaign spending.

Shareholder resolutions urge BoA, 3M, target to forgo political spending, Law.com, 18 Jan 2012.