For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANSPONSOR NEWSDash daily newsletter.
Administration June 3, 2005
CalPERS Withholds PeopleSoft Votes
March 18, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The $161 billion
California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) will
withhold votes for three PeopleSoft Inc's directors up for
reelection next week.
Reported by Eric Hazard
CalPERS, which owns 1.8 million PeopleSoft shares, is withholding its votes in part of its ongoing actions to keep outside auditors independent at companies. KPMG, auditor for PeopleSoft, was used for services such as consulting last year, which CalPERS maintains can be a conflict of interest, according to a Contra Costa Times report.
The withheld votes will not prevent the election of the three directors at PeopleSoft, a software maker, but CalPERS hopes it continues to send their message about corporate governance boards, following action taken against Walt Disney Co, Hewlett Packard and Applied Materials (See Beleaguered Disney Head Tries to Shore Up Support , CalPERS Withholds HP Board Votes , CalPERS Withholds Votes at Applied Materials Inc ).
The three audit committee members who are up for election are A. George “Skip” Battle, Frank J. Fanzilli Jr. and Cyril J. Yansouni. CalPERS in announcing the decision it has not due to the Pleasanton, California-based company’s ongoing battle with Oracle, which has garnered a lot of attention during the past year.