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Loading...Protests Erupt After CME Chair Lies to Shareholders
Chairman Terrence Duffy lied to shareholders during the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s annual shareholders meeting, held downtown on May 23. Protesters holding proxy shares attempted to probe Duffy with questions pertaining to CME’s lobbying for state tax breaks and their massive profits. Duffy rebuffed the questions as out of order because they did not address items on the agenda while telling them they could be asked during the open question and answer session at the end of the meeting.
Roughly 50 protesters scattered themselves around the room prior to the meeting but stood in solidarity with each other as proxy after proxy attempted to question CME’s profitable lobbying for a state tax break last fall. The company threatened to leave the state after more than 100 years of operation if it did not get its way. Duffy tried to hedge against the protesters’ concerns at the beginning of the meeting in his opening remarks.
“We are a global company, and we asked to be taxed like every other major company based in Illinois, many of which are much larger than CME Group,” said Duffy. “The Illinois Legislature recognized and corrected the unfair treatment by giving us an apportionment that is equitable and puts us closer to other Illinois companies.”
The supposed correction in the unfair treatment will deprive the state of nearly $1 billion over the next decade. The impact of this correction is severe as Stand Up! Chicago’s Elizabeth Parisan noted in the Huffington Post:
The cuts to these programs are so deep that they actually go back in time. Earlier this month, the state notified 40,000 childcare providers that they might not get paid for the last three months of services they provided because their program was underfunded by $73 million. The announcement thrust thousands of families into turmoil as providers wondered how they would keep their doors open and working parents wondered if they would lose the safe and affordable childcare they depend upon in order to make a living.
Read more: activism, ceo, Chair, chicago, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, lobbying, merc, protest, shareholders, tax break, tax dodge, taxes, Terry Duffy
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There should be a PR campaign launched to publicly shame CME's executive management to return the tax break they won under Duffy.
Thank you for the article...
Big corporations like "Wal-Mart" get tax concessions from municipalities in return for what? Low paying jobs, non-union employers who put the bottomline of the corporation before the health/welfare of its employes. Just because this behavior has become the method for all new business to be successful does not make it right. The Walton family has the assets to support new business, but like most they never put their assets in jeopardy. This socialism for big business is counter productive for a healthy nation. Why does the general public have to support tax subsidies for billionaires who want to own sports teams to build new stadiums? Why do retiring CEOs get enormous,outrageous severance considerations then use it to buy politicians? They cry about excessive regulation ruining their business, but they continue to move their business off shore for cheap labor and hide profits in foreign banks to avoid taxes. Are youl listening, Mitt? Who looks out for the general public? Mitt says he is not worried about the poor because they have programs to protect them all while he is promising to eliminate these programs. Too many of these supposed "Job Providers" plunder our earth for personal wealth and power to what end? Even e-trade CEO says that the middle-class are the job providers since their demand is the reason for new jobs and hiring.
Thanks for posting!
Thank you for sharing.
We desperately need a national "correcting the abuse of power" in place.
Unfair treatment of shareholders who'd a right to have legitimate questions answered by the Chairman, as promised. And I've a major problem with the tax breaks being handed so many large corporations, who hold municipalities and states hostage with their demands. Run a business effeciently and well, and within the law, and they've a right to make their profit. But if they've a need for taxpayer-funded subsidies, their business doesn't deserve to thrive and needs to face the reality that a failed business rightly goes out of business.
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