The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year rejected without explanation the attempt by the The Carlyle Group L.P. to go public with a provision in its partnership agreement requiring individual arbitration instead of securities class actions.
That same year, the SEC refused to let shareholders of Pfizer Inc. and Gannett Co. Inc. advance a shareholder proposal to amend their corporate bylaws, opaquely stating in a no-action letter requested by management that the proposals might violate the securities laws, notwithstanding substantial U.S. Supreme Court precedent to the contrary.
