Reuters reports that more American companies are bending to shareholder pressure to reveal their spending to sway political campaigns despite court decisions allowing unfettered corporate cash in elections, according to a study released on Friday.
Colgate-Palmolive [CL 90.94 0.40 (+0.44%) ], IBM [IBM 186.34 4.37 (+2.4%) ] and Merck [MRK 34.31 0.77 (+2.3%) ] are among the big names with the best grades from the Center for Political Accountability, a foundation-funded group that pushes companies to open up their books.
The landmark Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 ended most restrictions on campaign donations by corporations and unions, giving these groups the ability to write fat checks to back political causes. But pressure has been building for years from shareholders of public firms to shed light on such spending. Proponents of disclosure argue that getting involved in politics poses big risks for a company's reputation and brand.
Target [TGT 55.79 0.64 (+1.16%) ] learned that lesson the hard way, when it gave $150,000 in 2010 to a Minnesota business group that backed a Republican candidate for governor who was a staunch opponent of gay marriage…
Read more at http://www.cnbc.com/id/45072356
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