LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Occidental Petroleum
Corporation (NYSE:OXY) today announced that its Board of Directors has
approved a 'say on pay' policy. Under this new policy stockholders will
have a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation starting at
the company's 2010 annual meeting.
The advisory vote gives stockholders the ability to advise the Board
on its philosophy on the annual compensation of the most highly
compensated executives at the company.
"We welcome ongoing input from our stockholders. Oxy's Board of
Directors strives to maintain an ongoing, constructive dialogue with
the goal of achieving continuous improvement in all aspects of our
corporate governance, including executive compensation," said Dr. Ray
R. Irani, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental.
"In recent years, we have engaged in direct discussions with
stockholders on various important governance issues, including
'say-on-pay,' put a significant amount of executive compensation 'at
risk' based on the company's performance and expanded and improved the
executive compensation disclosures in our proxy statements. We are now
taking an additional significant step forward by adopting 'say on pay,'
providing for a regular advisory vote," said Dr. Irani.
Additionally, Oxy supports Congress establishing clear guidelines,
setting a common standard and adopting legislation to mandate an
advisory vote on executive compensation at all U.S. companies. This
would enable investors to have a consistent tool to give feedback at
all companies in which they invest.
As a result of the Oxy Board's action, The Needmor Fund, the lead
proponent, along with its co-filers, have withdrawn the 'say on pay'
stockholder proposal they had planned to present at Oxy's upcoming 2009
Annual Meeting of Stockholders. If this proposal had been approved by
stockholders, it could not have taken effect until the 2010 meeting. A
similar proposal received significant support, but did not pass, at the
company's 2007 and 2008 annual meetings.
"We believe one important way to ensure that shareholders maintain a
meaningful voice in executive compensation decisions is to submit
executive pay packages to a non-binding shareholder vote," stated Tim
Smith of Walden Asset Management, the investment manager for The
Needmor Fund and a leader in the movement for an Advisory Vote. "When
tied to a robust investor communication program on executive
compensation which provides an avenue for detailed shareowner feedback,
the vote has additional meaning," said Smith.
"We are extremely pleased that Occidental's Board recognizes the
importance of shareholder input on compensation decisions that have the
potential to affect their investments," stated Daniel Stranahan of the
Needmor Fund. The 2009 resolution seeking the Advisory Vote was led by
the Needmor Fund and co-filed by Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes;
Christus Health;
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