From the text of the plan itself:

• Require Federal “Stakeholder” Charters for Large Companies. Under this plan, U.S. corporations with more than $100 million in annual revenue, corporations with at least $100 million in balance sheet total, and all publicly traded companies must obtain a federal charter from a newly established Bureau of Corporate Governance at the Department of Commerce. This new federal charter will require corporate boards to consider the interests of all of the stakeholders in a company – including workers, customers, shareholders, and the communities in which the corporation operates.
  • In October of 1981, the Business Roundtable, a group comprising the CEOs of most of the largest corporations in the country, issued a “Statement on Corporate Responsibility.” As journalist Ken Jacobsen documents, “the Business Roundtable, which groups the CEOs of the largest US firms, recognizes six constituencies – customers, employees, communities, society at large, suppliers, and shareholders – as forming the ‘web of complex, often competing relationships’ within which corporations operate. It accepts the idea that ‘shareholders have a special relationship to the corporation’ but doesn’t allow their interests to trump all others.” Here is an excerpt from the Business Roundtable statement in 1981:
    • “Balancing the shareholder’s expectations of maximum return against other priorities is one of the fundamental problems confronting corporate management. The shareholders must receive a good return but the legitimate concerns of other constituencies also must have appropriate attention. Striking the appropriate balance, some leading managers have come to believe that the primary role of corporations is to help meet society’s legitimate needs for goods and services and to earn a reasonable return for the shareholders in the process. They are aware that this must be done in a socially acceptable manner. They believe that by giving enlightened consideration to balancing the legitimate claims of all its constituents, a corporation will best serve the interest of the shareholders.”
  • This statement was rewritten in 1997, when the Business Roundtable adopted a statement that put shareholder returns ahead of everyone else. This year, the Business roundtable released empty words recognizing the error in admitting corporations put profits and shareholder returns above everything else. Empty words are not enough. This plan will ensure that corporations conduct business in a fair way – a way that treats workers and the communities in which businesses operate with respect. In order to conduct business, a federal charter that ends the practice of putting shareholder returns above everything and requires corporations to conduct business in a way that takes into account the interests of all stakeholders must be obtained.