Chalk another one up for activist investors.
Goldman Sachs yesterday lost its bid to keep a shareholder proposal to split the chairman and CEO roles off its proxy statement.
Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission informed the bank that it couldn’t block the proposal from being included among a list of proposals at its next annual shareholder meeting.
The proposal was sent by CtW Investment Group, which owns just 25 Goldman shares, for inclusion on the proxy.
Goldman argued that the proposal was vague and didn’t merit a vote. The SEC said it’s “unable to concur” with that view.
Lloyd Blankfein currently holds both titles at the gold-plated investment bank, which argues that it benefits from having a unified voice at the head of the firm.
The proposal to split the chairman and CEO roles is one that Goldman has faced several times in the past.
Last year, Goldman named James Schiro as a lead independent director in an effort to quiet activism from pension plan American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
AFSCME also recently made a similar request for JPMorgan to split its chairman and CEO roles, which are currently held by Jamie Dimon.