By Tess Stynes
General Electric Co. (GE) said its board amended the company's
bylaws to allow big, long-term shareholders to nominate candidates
for as many as 20% of the seats on the conglomerate's board.
Under the change, GE will implement a proxy access bylaw that
allows shareholders--or a group of as many as 20 shareowners--with
stakes of at least 3%, to make nominations and include them on the
company's proxy materials, providing they have held the stake for
at least three consecutive years and meet other requirements.
Proxy access could turn typically one-sided corporate contests
into something more like mainstream elections, by letting big
investors list competing board candidates on official company
ballots. Shareholders have been allowed to submit such proposals to
individual companies only since 2012, after a federal appeals court
struck down a mandatory proxy-access rule from the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Based on the current size of GE's board, currently at 17
members, such investors potentially could could submit nominations
for three candidates to the GE's board.
Few companies have adopted proxy-access policies. In January,
Monsanto Co. shareholders approved a nonbinding proposal requesting
"proxy access" adoption.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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