Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has lost its bid with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission to not submit a shareholder proposal at this year’s annual shareholders meeting. The National Legal and Policy Center said Tuesday it had been notified by the SEC that Wal-Mart will be required to submit an NLPC-sponsored proposal asking the company to disclose its charitable giving. Wal-Mart had appealed to the SEC to exclude the resolution but was denied. The National Legal and Policy Center said it is critical of Wal-Mart in four areas: health care, racial preferences, environmental alarmism and culture wars. Wal-Mart Vice President and corporate general counsel Jeffrey Gearhart reportedly phoned the Policy Center on April 4 to “apologize” in the wake of a Wall Street Journal article that reported that some shareholder groups were possible targets of Wal-Mart’s security unit. Wal-Mart’s shareholders meeting will take place June 1 in Fayetteville. |