DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The California Public Employees' Retirement System said it
opposes the re-election of two Citigroup Inc. (C) directors, in
part because of their roles in the recent financial crisis.
The nation's largest public pension fund, which owns about 61.2
million Citigroup shares, plans to cast "withhold" votes for board
nominees Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive of Dow
Chemical Co. (DOW), and Judith Rodin, Rockefeller Foundation
president, at the annual shareowners meeting Tuesday.
Both served on the company's audit and risk committee before the
financial crisis. During the crisis, the banking giant accepted a
total federal government infusion of $45 billion, which it has
repaid.
"It's time for new blood in the boardroom," said Anne Simpson,
the senior portfolio manager who heads the Calpers corporate
governance program, pointing out that Liveris is a current chief
executive "while serving on an excessive number of public company
boards."
Calpers also opposes Citi's proposal for an advisory vote on
executive compensation. Generally, the pension fund supports
shareowners' right to cast nonbinding advisory votes on executive
compensation plans but it said Citi's proposal fails to adequately
disclose the compensation process.
Last year, Citi also was the target of a high-profile vote-no
campaign as insurgent, labor-backed groups sought the removal of
six audit committee members.
The campaign affected other banks as well, with Calpers opposing
the re-election last year of all 18 Bank of America Corp. (BAC)
directors, including then-Chairman and Chief Executive Ken Lewis,
saying said they failed to disclose information to shareholders in
connection with the bank's purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Long considered the nation's most influential institutional
activist, Calpers manages about $212 billion of assets for about
1.6 million government workers and retirees. It rose to prominence
during the 1980s by publicizing the shortcomings of corporate
boards that didn't govern well. It later spearheaded fights against
excessive executive pay.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357;
kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com