Investor Relations Magazine, November 2, 2007 article

Shareholder Forum for Options Policies

For Verizon's announcement of the board actions reported in the article below, see

Verizon Communications Inc., November 1, 2007 press release: "Verizon Board Adopts Policy on Advisory Shareholder Vote Related to Executive Compensation"

Note: C. William Jones, referenced in the article below as President of the Association of BellTel Retirees, has been serving on the Advisory Panel of the Options Policies Forum that initiated attention to advisory voting issues in 2006 and subsequently developed principles for cooperative adaptation of policies. Based on the foundation of that program, the Association then supported the organization of the current Verizon Forum program to examine the information needed by investors to understand how compensation incentives relate to the achievement of corporate performance objectives.

Investor Relations Magazine, November 2, 2007 article

Verizon board OKs say on pay

Nov 02, 2007

Decision comes after majority shareholder vote

NEW YORK -- Verizon's board of directors yesterday approved a policy to give shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation next year. The move comes after a proposal by shareholders passed narrowly with a 50.18 percent majority in May.

'Say on pay' proposals got majority support at seven companies in the last proxy season, according to the Corporate Library, but Verizon becomes one of the first major companies to adopt an advisory vote.

'This is a big plus for Verizon,' says the proposal's original sponsor, C. William Jones who leads the Association of Belltell Retirees. 'Even though it will be non-binding, I'm sure they're going to want a positive vote. It'll encourage them to be forthcoming and a little careful in what the compensation packages are.'

In a press release, Verizon director Sandra Moose said Verizon had been influenced by 'an ongoing dialogue with shareholders and others' since the proxy vote.

by Anna Snider

This Forum program is open, free of charge, to all shareholders of the invited corporate participants, and to any fiduciaries or professionals concerned with the investment decisions of those shareholders, according to the posted Conditions of Participation. The Forum's purpose is to provide shareholders with access to information and a free exchange of views on issues relating to their investment interests described in the Forum Summary. As stated in the Conditions, all Forum participants are expected to make independent use of information obtained through the Forum, subject to the privacy rights of other participants. It is a Forum rule that participants will not be identified or quoted without their explicit permission.

This Forum program has been organized with the support of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, Ltd. It is the first in an expected series that will be managed by a not-for-profit “Institute” to be established for the purpose of continuing the Forum programs conducted by Gary Lutin.

Inquiries and requests to be included in the Forum's distribution list may be addressed to op@shareholderforum.com. The information provided to Forum participants is intended for their private reference, and permission has not been granted for the republishing of any copyrighted material.

All material on this web site is published by Gary Lutin, who is responsible for conducting the Forum.