Goldman Sachs and Bank of America shareholders on Wednesday voted against a proposal to split the roles of CEO and chairman of the banks, bucking pressure from influential proxy advisers to strengthen corporate governance. .
Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis told shareholders they supported the move, and Goldman CEO David Solomon and BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan They called for the chief executive officer (CEO) to be stripped of his chairmanship.
Norway’s $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s largest investors, also expressed support for the plan.
At Goldman’s annual shareholder meeting, a proposal from the conservative National Law and Policy Center (NPLC) received 33% of shareholder votes, compared with 16% last year, according to preliminary counts.
Luke Perlow, associate director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project, told investors when presenting the proposal that Solomon’s “poor decision-making” had resulted in significant losses for the retail sector.
After the vote was rejected, Perloux said the CEO’s misjudgment “could have been avoided with serious countermeasures to his power.”
He added: “While we are pleased that the number of votes in favor has doubled from last year, we are disappointed that these clear examples of overreach failed to persuade a majority to support our proposal.” added.
A Goldman Sachs spokesperson referred to the company’s previous comments on the matter. The company’s governance committee continues to maintain that it believes a strong lead independent director is most effective at this time, alongside the role of chairman and CEO.
“We took decisive action to sharpen our strategic focus and play to our core strengths,” Solomon said in his opening remarks at the meeting. “We are executing on this strategy and putting the company in a stronger position.”
A similar move by Bank of America to separate the roles of CEO and chairman failed with 31% of shareholder votes, up from 26% last year.
Investors at both banks approved all management proposals, including executive compensation, but rejected all shareholder proposals.
