Microsoft will keep current shareholder proposal eligibility thresholds for one year
Agreement covers next proxy cycle through annual meeting set for December 8
SEC has said it will stop oversight of shareholder votes like climate change
Sept 22 (Reuters) - Microsoft MSFT.O will consider shareholder proposals at its annual meetings through next year, at the request of an activist looking to preserve investor rights as they come under pressure from a contentious U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule change proposed last week.

Under an agreement with conservative activist Paul Chesser, seen by Reuters, Microsoft will continue to apply existing thresholds for investors to submit resolutions for a vote, even as the SEC considers changes that critics say would sideline individual investors, religious groups, unions and others who have had a say through the shareholder proposal process for decades.

The agreement only lasts a year, but could effectively offset efforts by the regulatory agency to shift power away from investors to corporate executives. Chesser said he hopes Microsoft's approach will become a corporate-governance model to assure mom-and-pop investors a voice that can be followed by other companies.