J.P. Morgan’s annual meeting in
Tampa, Fla. lasted less than an hour and included little of the drama that some
might have expected days after the company took a surprise $2.3 billion trading
loss.
As chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon ran the show,
and while he faced a couple questions about his handling of the company’s Chief
Investment Office and its $2.3 billion in trading losses, the meeting was
generally docile.
Dimon, not one to shy away from questions,
actually remained silent while shareholders took to their soap boxes, and
responded only when directly addressed. And even then the responses were short.
The most interesting debate was on Proposal No.
5 to elect an independent director as chairman. The proposal, put forward by
union giant Afscme Employees Pension Plan, which holds 38,800 shares of J.P.
Morgan, says the board should split the roles of chairman and CEO.
It is a proposal that Afscme has put to several
companies this year and in the past. It also gets support from corporate
governance experts, and proxy advisers. Since the trading losses were revealed,
Afscme has reiterated its positions and shareholders may be willing to show
more support for this.
The company has said its policy isn’t to combine
the roles but that Dimon is the most qualified.
While some shareholders asked about the
proposal, Dimon sidestepped the debate, and the shareholders voted it down.
Here is the recap from Deal Journal’s live
blogging of the event.
And here is the results of the shareholders' votes:
o
8:21
am
o
Voting
results
o
by David Benoit
Voting polls are closed and Cutler reads votes:
86% at least for all directors
91.5% for say on pay
41% for independent chairman
52.4% for the shareholder action by written consent
No comments:
Post a Comment