PEORIA, Ill., Feb. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a
distinguished career of more than 30 years – spending the last 16
years as chief legal officer – Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT)
announced today that Law and Public Policy Executive Vice President
Jim Buda is retiring.
"Jim has been a trusted advisor to countless leaders at
Caterpillar, not the least of which is four CEOs, including
myself," said Caterpillar Chairman Doug
Oberhelman. "Not only does he lead a world-class, diverse
legal team, but he also designed and built a strategic organization
that looks seamlessly at the company's influential policy,
communications and governmental affairs initiatives on a worldwide
basis. I have considered him a close colleague and count him and
his wife, Susan, among my dear friends. I wish him only the best in
his well-deserved retirement."
Buda has been awarded numerous national awards from a variety of
law and public policy organizations, including various
organizations naming him "General Counsel of the Year" multiple
times. He also won the "Legends in Law" honor by the Burton Awards
in association with the Library of Congress. His organization has
also received several national awards for its pro bono program and
was nationally recognized for diversity and inclusion. Buda will be
recognized in March 2017 by the
National Association of Women Lawyers for his ongoing commitment to
recruiting and developing women attorneys and legal leaders.
"Jim has built a strong foundation for our critical legal and
public policy work," said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby. "But perhaps his greatest passion
and legacy is sharing his and his team's talents through pro bono
legal work in communities throughout the world – assisting those
who could use a guiding hand. I wish him and his family a happy and
healthy retirement."
Buda joined Caterpillar in 1987 after 13 years serving clients
in both private and corporate practice. He filled a number of
senior corporate attorney positions and was named Associate General
Counsel for Litigation in 1996. In 1998, Buda assumed the position
of Associate General Counsel for the Legal Services Division in the
United Kingdom before becoming the
company's General Counsel in 2001. He became the company's Senior
Vice President in 2010 and ascended to his current position as
Executive Vice President of Law and Public Policy in 2012. Buda is
a member of numerous legal associations including the American Bar
Association, Association of General Counsels and the Board of
Directors of the Institute for Legal Reform of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
His retirement is effective May 1,
2017.
About Caterpillar
For more than 90 years, Caterpillar
Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving
positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar
to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource
assets. With 2016 sales and revenues of $38.537 billion, Caterpillar is the world's
leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel
and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and
diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates
through its three product segments - Construction Industries,
Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also
provides financing and related services through its Financial
Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com.
To connect with us on social media,
visit caterpillar.com/social-media.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this
press release relate to future events and expectations and are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe,"
"estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate,"
"plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar
words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend
descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance,
and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and
regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the
industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies
and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes,
component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products
or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or
volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of
liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers;
(v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events
beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi)
failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting
increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost
of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital
markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated
with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest
rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in
delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's
customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing,
all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their
impact on demand for our products and our competitive position;
(xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products
that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly
competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and
pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits
from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash
flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a
failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or
future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management
decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM
customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and
regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or
anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense
or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat
Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased
pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other
employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings,
claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in
accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security;
(xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural
disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under
"Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on
February 16, 2016 for the year ended
December 31, 2015.
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SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.