Devolution and Proxy

noun

• The process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality.
  • synonyms: degeneration
• The delegation of authority (especially from a central to a regional government. ).
  • synonyms: devolvement

• (n.) The act of rolling down.
• (n.) Transference from one person to another; a passing or devolving upon a successor.

DEVOLUTION is the delegation of authority from higher to lower levels.

noun

• A person authorized to act for another.
  • synonyms: placeholder, procurator
• A power of attorney document given by shareholders of a corporation authorizing a specific vote on their behalf at a corporate meeting. .

• (n.) The person who is substituted or deputed to act or vote for another.
• (n.) A writing by which one person authorizes another to vote in his stead, as in a corporation meeting.
• (n.) The written appointment of a proctor in suits in the ecclesiastical courts.
• (n.) The agency for another who acts through the agent; authority to act for another, especially to vote in a legislative or corporate capacity.
• (v.i.) To act or vote by proxy; to do anything by the agency of another.
• (n.) See Procuration.

If you own common stock in a US corporation, you have the right to vote on company policies and to elect the company's board of directors. You may vote in person at the annual meeting or authorize the board to vote on your behalf using an absentee ballot, or' Proxy', which you can submit by mail or, increasingly often, by telephone or over the Internet. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires each company to provide a proxy statement, which describes the issues being voted on and introduces the candidates for director. The proxy also reports the total compensation of the company's top five executives, as well as the company's stock performance in relation to Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index (S&P 500) and to comparable companies in the industry.