Reuters, January 15, 2009 article

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January 15, 2009 New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., press release: "Thompson and NYC Pension Funds Submit Shareholder Resolutions Calling for Reforms on Executive Pay" (3 pages, 751 KB, in PDF format)

Reuters, January 15, 2009 article

NYC comptroller calls for reforms of exec pay

Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:08am EST

NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - New York City Comptroller William Thompson on Thursday called for greater shareholder say in compensation packages awarded to corporate executives, arguing that pay should be more closely tied to performance.

"Investors increasingly are concerned about mushrooming executive compensation, particularly when it is insufficiently linked to performance," Thompson said in a statement.

On behalf of the New York City pension funds which have a combined value of about $105 billion, Thompson submitted resolutions for the shareholder meetings of nine companies.

Thompson submitted so-called "say on pay" resolutions to Home Depot (HD.N), Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N), Ryland Group (RYL.N), KB Home (KBH.N), and Charming Shoppes (CHRS.O), said the statement.

Thompson also submitted "pay for superior performance" resolutions to Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC.N), Chesapeake Corp, and Pier 1 Imports (PIR.N), and a "performance-based stock options" resolution to shareholders of PMC-Sierra Inc (PMCS.O).

This is the third time the New York City pension funds have submitted a "say on pay" resolution for Home Depot. In 2007 and 2008, the same resolution garnered 43 percent and 42.1 percent support, respectively.

Last year 38.8 percent of PMC Sierra shareholders voted in favor of basing stock options awards on performance.

"Stock options too often facilitate a disconnect between reward and long-term performance at many companies," Thompson said.

(Reporting by Tom Ryan; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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