CREW Files Lawsuit Against Aetna for Misleading Proxy Statements = Dark Money
December 10, 2013
http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/entry/crew-files-lawsuit-against-aetna-for-misleading-proxy-statements
CREW Files Lawsuit Against Aetna for Misleading Proxy Statements
Washington, D.C. — Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), on behalf of Stephen W. Silberstein, an Aetna, Inc. shareholder, filed a lawsuit against Aetna, its chairman, CEO, and president Mark T. Bertolini, and its board of directors in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by sending out false and misleading proxy statements to shareholders in 2012 and 2013.
Click here to read the complaint against Aetna for misleading shareholders.
Section 14a of the Exchange Act prohibits companies from providing inaccurate information in proxy statements to procure votes for or against shareholder proposals. Aetna’s proxy statements included inaccurate information and omitted material information about the company’s political activities to persuade shareholders to oppose a proposal offered by the Service Employees International Union Master Trust (SEIU) in 2012 and another offered by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUAC) in 2013.
“Aetna pretends to be a model of corporate transparency, but in truth, shareholders have almost no idea which dark money groups the company is funding or how much it is contributing,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “Aetna tried to hide its nearly $8 million in contributions to the American Action Network and the Chamber of Commerce to influence the 2012 elections. Who knows where else Aetna has been funneling money?”
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