Advisory Firms Target Citi Board

At least three shareholder advisory firms are scrutinizing Citigroup’s board of directors and asking investors to vote against the company’s directors at its annual meeting on April 22, The Wall Street Journal reports today . Shareholders are being urged to vote against the re-election of four directors: lead director Alain J.P. Belda, chairman of Alcoa; former Chevron Corp. chairman Kenneth Derr; Xerox Corp. Chairman Anne Mulcahy; and Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons, CFO.com reported. RiskMetric Group's ISS Governance Services has taken Citigroup's compensation committee to task because of alleged excessive executive pay. In addition, Mulcahy is said to be in the spotlight due to her service on two boards--The Washington Post Co. and Target--while actively serving as CEO of Xerox. Glass Lewis & Co. is recommending that nine of Citigroup's 14 directors not be reelected while Egan-Jones Proxy Services has called for the rejection of Citigroup director C. Michael Armstrong who chairs the risk oversight committee. Proxy Governance, however, has defended the board’s oversight and endorsed all of the company’s board members.