Corporate Governance
Manufacturers depend on public markets to finance business growth, job creation and economic expansion, and workers rely on the success of publicly traded companies for their savings and retirement. Policymakers should rein in unregulated third parties, enable manufacturers to engage effectively with their shareholders and protect middle-class investors.
Corporate Governance
Manufacturers should focus on building things — not a politicized proxy process or needless red tape.
Public and private manufacturers alike depend on capital markets that reward growth, not activism. The NAM champions a corporate governance system that depoliticizes the shareholder process, reins in unaccountable proxy advisers, modernizes outdated disclosure and unleashes the capital formation manufacturers need to grow.
Where the NAM stands
Governance that works for manufacturers
Sound corporate governance keeps companies focused on long-term value and protects Main Street investors. These are the priorities the NAM is advancing.
Depoliticize Shareholder Proposals
The SEC’s SLB 14M restored a company-specific standard for shareholder proposals, reversing years of politicized guidance. The NAM is working to make Rule 14a-8 reform durable.
Rein In Proxy Advisory Firms
Two firms — ISS and Glass Lewis — control 97% of the proxy-advice market. The NAM backs the Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act and stronger SEC oversight of these unaccountable middlemen.
Modernize SEC Disclosure
Regulation S-K is overdue for an update. The NAM supports streamlined disclosure, optional semiannual reporting and relief for smaller companies — so manufacturers spend less on compliance and more on growth.
Unleash Capital Formation
From the INVEST Act to Rule 15c2-11 relief and a broader “accredited investor” definition, the NAM is fighting to help manufacturers of every size raise the capital they need to expand.
Stop Politicized Mandates
The NAM helped secure rescission of the SEC’s climate-disclosure rule and opposes the EU’s CSDDD and the SEC conflict-minerals mandate — costly rules that don’t belong on manufacturers’ books.
Sensible Bank Capital Rules
Manufacturers depend on bank lending to grow. The NAM supports common-sense reforms to Basel III Endgame and capital requirements that keep credit affordable for Main Street.
Progress for manufacturers
Wins for Main Street manufacturers
Manufacturers’ advocacy is reshaping corporate governance toward growth, transparency and accountability.
“This proposal will permanently protect privately held manufacturers from unworkable disclosure mandates and empower the capital formation necessary for growth and job creation across the sector.” — Charles Crain, NAM Managing Vice President, Policy
Source: NAM newsroom and Corporate Finance Policy updates, 2025–2026.
In action
Reform in motion
From the SEC to Capitol Hill, manufacturers’ priorities are advancing.
- February 2025The SEC rescinds SLB 14L and issues SLB 14M, returning shareholder-proposal review to a company-specific standard.
- November 2025The House passes the INVEST Act, 302–123; President Trump signs an executive order directing tighter oversight of proxy advisory firms.
- April 2026The House Financial Services Committee advances the Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act.
- May 2026The SEC proposes optional semiannual reporting and disclosure relief for smaller companies, and moves to rescind the climate-disclosure rule.
Help shape sound governance
The NAM’s Corporate Finance Policy Committee gives manufacturers a direct voice on the rules that govern capital markets. Join the conversation.
