H.R. 9732: Multi-Class Stock Company Voting Transparency Act.

This bill would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a rule that makes certain companies give shareholders more detailed voting information after shareholder meetings.

What companies would be covered

The requirement would apply to public companies that have two or more classes of voting stock. These are companies where different groups of shares may have different voting rights.

What information would have to be disclosed

For any meeting where shareholders vote together as one group, the company would have to disclose the voting results broken out by share class. Specifically, the disclosure would need to show:

• The total number of votes for, against, or withheld, separated by class of voting security.
• The total number of abstentions and broker non-votes, also separated by class.

What this would change

Right now, shareholders may not always be able to easily see how each class of stock voted in a combined vote. This bill would make companies provide a more detailed breakdown so investors can compare voting behavior across share classes.

Practical effect

The bill does not change how shareholders vote, and it does not set the outcomes of votes. Instead, it changes the reporting rules so that voting results are more transparent for companies with multiple classes of stock.

Relevant Companies

• GOOGL / GOOG — Alphabet has multiple classes of voting stock, so it would likely need to disclose voting results by class under the new rule.
• META — Meta Platforms has a dual-class share structure and would likely be affected by the disclosure requirement if it applies to its shareholder votes.
• BRK.B — Berkshire Hathaway has different share classes; if the company holds a vote where shareholders vote as one class, it could be subject to the new reporting rule.
• SNAP — Snap has a multi-class voting structure and would likely need to provide class-by-class vote totals for covered meetings.
• COUR — Coursera has multiple classes of shares with different voting rights and could be directly affected by the new disclosure requirement.