SEC Proposes to Force Fund Firms to Disclose Proxy Votes

This story was updated from Thursday 9:46 p.m.

The battle for disclosure knows no boundaries.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted yesterday for a proposal that tackles yet another area of mutual fund disclosure -- proxy votes. In short, the proposal would force mutual fund companies to disclose to investors how they vote in company proxy contests. The proposal is somewhat toothier, though, than previously expected.

Simply through the vast number of shares their funds own, many fund managers have considerable weight in proxy votes. And given the recent spate of corporate governance misfires, more and more mutual fund managers have announced that they're going to use their influence as shareholders to affect corporate behavior. Perhaps most notably, Vanguard Group founder John Bogle has assembled an ad-hoc group that includes Chris Davis of Davis Funds and Bill Miller of Legg Mason to encourage institutional investors to throw their weight around on a slew of issues. ...