Tuesday, March 29, 2011

BP facing pressure from proxy advisory firms

Oil giant BP is facing pressure on pay and safety from two of the world’s biggest shareholder voting advisory firms, Glass, Lewis and Co. and ISS, ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) next month. This despite the fact that there is no resolution relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident on the AGM agenda.

Glass Lewis is recommending that its clients (who control $17 trn in assets) vote against approving BP's Annual Report and Accounts (essentially stating that they do not believe the report fully presents the events of the past year.) They are also recommending a vote against several board members who sit on the firm's Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee

The mutiny among large shareholders and proxy advisors comes as BP faces concerns that criminal charges will be filed against the company's managers. If the firm is found to be "grossly negligent" leading up to the Deepwater Horizon incident, it may be unable to force its exploration partners to pay their 35% share in the cleanup cost. The clean up bill now totals some $42 bn.

Read more at Responsible Investor.com.

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