As of yesterday’s 3-2 SEC ruling, the little guy just got a little more power in the boardroom. When shareholders want to nominate people to the board, the company now has to include those names on the regular ballots passed out to everyone before the annual meeting, even if the company doesn’t like them.

Before, shareholders had to mail out separate ballots and conduct a their own campaign, both of which are pretty expensive. Not surprisingly, there are some folks pretty ticked off about the new “proxy access” rule, which two previous SEC chairman tried and failed to pass, and they’re already sharpening their long knives.

Investors Gain New Clout [WSJ]

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