According to Fortune, the Trump Administration and the SEC are taking unprecedented steps to dismantle shareholder rights in public markets. They are threatening to roll back Regulation S-K, which governs corporate disclosures, and refusing to adjudicate shareholder resolutions. They are also blocking shareholders with less than $5 million from filing exempt solicitations and not requiring the disclosure of material risks. These actions effectively transform publicly traded corporations into private fiefdoms with no accountability. The administration is telling capital owners—from individuals to pension funds—that they have no recourse and should simply write checks without asking questions.
The Core Bargain is Broken
Here’s the thing: capitalism isn’t just about money changing hands. It’s a system of rights and responsibilities. When you buy a share, you’re not just buying a lottery ticket. You’re buying a piece of ownership, with all the rights that entails—like voting for a board, getting information, and raising concerns. That’s the whole deal. What the SEC is doing now is unilaterally rewriting that deal. They’re saying, “You can own it, but you can’t inspect the foundation.” It’s like buying a house you’re forbidden to check for a sinkhole. That’s not capitalism; it’s confiscation with extra steps.
Systemic Ignorance is the Goal
Let’s call this what it really is: the imposition of systemic ignorance. Information is the lifeblood of markets. Without it, you can’t price risk. Is a company’s supply chain resilient? Is its workforce stable? These aren’t “woke” questions—they’re material financial facts. By helping companies hide this info, the SEC isn’t protecting businesses. It’s incubating future disasters. You literally cannot manage a risk you aren’t allowed to measure. And an opaque market is a fragile market. We’ve seen this movie before. It ends with a crash, because speculation and insider control always win when transparency loses.
Capital Will Go Where It’s Respected
So what happens next? Money isn’t stupid. It goes where it’s treated well. If U.S. markets become black boxes, capital will flow to places that offer clarity. Europe gets this; they see transparency as a competitive edge. We’re already seeing smart investors look elsewhere. This creates a dangerous bifurcation. Good companies will still disclose because they value their owners. Bad actors will vanish behind a wall of secrecy. Over the long term, that split will determine who thrives and who fails. But the entire market’s credibility gets poisoned in the process.
A Call to Arms for Owners
This isn’t a political squabble. It’s a direct threat to anyone with a 401(k), a pension, or an investment portfolio. The SEC was literally created to protect investors. Now it’s working against them. The investment community—from giant asset managers to everyday people—needs to demand the restoration of these fundamental property rights. The irony is thick: an administration that champions free markets is sabotaging the very information flow that makes them free. Without capital’s rights, you don’t have capitalism. You have something else entirely, and it hasn’t worked out well historically. The question is, will investors speak up before it’s too late?
