NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pfizer Inc announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has approved amendments to a majority voting policy regarding the election of directors, which the company adopted earlier this year.
The amendments further clarify how the majority voting policy will be applied in the event that any nominee for director receives more “withheld” votes for his or her election than “for” votes. In such a situation, the director will be required to submit his or her resignation to the board.
“Pfizer was the first company to voluntarily adopt majority voting and these amendments represent further steps to clarify our policy for shareholders,” said Hank McKinnell, Pfizer chairman and chief executive officer. “Since adopting our policy in June, many other companies have approved similar measures. These actions demonstrate that companies are listening to their shareholders on important corporate governance issues.”
Pfizer’s amended corporate governance principles specifically state that: * The board will act on a director’s offer to resign within 90 days following certification of the shareholder vote; * The board will promptly disclose via a press release its decision to accept the resignation offer or, if applicable, the reason(s) for rejecting the offer; * The majority voting policy will be limited to uncontested director elections; * Any director who tenders his or her resignation shall not participate in any consideration by the board of the resignation offer. The amendments will take effect immediately.
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CONTACT: Paul Fitzhenry of Pfizer, +1-212-733-4637
Web site: http://www.pfizer.com/
