Goldman Sachs Re-Elects Board, Proposals Fail

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Goldman Sachs(GS) shareholders re-elected the company's entire 10-member board at the company's annual shareholder meeting on Friday, while defeating various proposals by individual shareholders, according to a report from CNBC.

Among the proposals shot down was one from Evelyn Y. Davis, an eccentric and highly vocal fixture at big bank shareholder meetings, asked the board to adopt a cumulative voting system in electing directors.

Also failing to win approval was a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research , a group with strong ties to the Tea Party, had asked Goldman to disclose business risk related to developments in the political, legislative, regulatory and scientific landscape regarding climate change.

A proposal allowing holders of 10% of the company's stock to call a special meeting, which had the support of proxy advisor Glass, Lewis & Co., also failed. Another that failed despite Glass, Lewis's backing, from Domini Social Investments, asking Goldman to disclose the companies policies regarding political contributions.

A proposal from the Nathan Cummings Foundation requesting a review of Goldman's senior executive compensation policies also failed to win approval. Goldman's board argued such a report would be a distraction, and that "shareholders already have access to the information necessary to understand and assess the compensation decisions with respect to senior executives and the firm as a whole."

A proposal that would have required "named executive officers" to retain at least 75% of their shares for at least three years after retirement also failed to win approval.

-- Written by Dan Freed in New York.

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