Making Corporate Disclosure a Must

Today, I reintroduced the Corporate Charitable Disclosure Act to require public companies to disclose their charitable donations to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It has been only slightly more than 5 years since our nation witnessed the damage corporate misconduct can have on every American. With these memories still fresh, it seems obvious that corporations need to be more forthcoming about their expenditures, including charitable contributions.

Under current law, a corporation that makes significant contributions to charitable organizations is under no obligation to publicly disclose how shareholder monies are being spent. My legislation will ensure that if a corporation makes a contribution, the American public and the shareholders are aware of where the money is going.

Most gift-giving has a legitimate purpose, and some public companies already disclose their charitable contributions voluntarily. If charitable contributions are legitimate, corporations should have nothing to hide by disclosing those gifts.