CalPERS Nominates Arthur Levitt And Ralph Whitworth To New York Stock Exchange Board

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) yesterday announced that it has nominated former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Arthur Levitt and corporate governance expert Ralph V. Whitworth to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

In a letter to the NYSE, CalPERS Board President Sean Harrigan outlined Levitt and Whitworth’s impeccable credentials that CalPERS believes make them highly qualified individuals for the NYSE Board.

 “Arthur and Ralph are prime candidates for the NYSE Board,” said Harrigan. “They bring the skill and experience needed to ensure that investors have a quality and cost effective marketplace. More importantly, they have the vision, passion and integrity to accomplish a monumental task -- restoring the trust and confidence of America’s investing public.”

Investor protection was Levitt’s top priority during his tenure at the SEC. He worked to educate, empower, and protect America's investors. Early in his tenure, Levitt created the Office of Investor Education and Assistance and established a website (www.sec.gov), which allows the public free and easy access to corporate filings and investor education materials.

His hallmark policy successes included improving the quality of the financial reporting process, maintaining the independence of auditors, saving investors billions of dollars by reducing spreads in the Nasdaq market, promoting the use of plain English in financial documents, requiring that important information be released to all investors simultaneously, fighting Internet fraud, and cleaning up the municipal bond market.

Whitworth is a founder and principal of Relational Investors LLC, a $2.3 billion investment fund specializing in strategic block investments and corporate governance.

He brings direct operational experience in finance, investments and acquisitions. His 19 years of business and corporate board activities enable him to identify the problems facing companies and their boards, and perhaps most importantly, give him the ability to effectively communicate with the board.

Whitworth served as chairman of the board of Waste Management, Inc. in 1999 as a major crisis management assignment. He was responsible for overall management of the company and led the recruitment effort to replace the company’s management team. He played a similar role at Apria Healthcare Group Inc. (the world’s largest home healthcare provider) in 1998, where he initiated a number of progressive corporate governance initiatives. He also serves on the boards of three other NYSE listed companies, including Tektronix, Mattel, and United Thermal Corporation.

Whitworth is considered an expert on corporate governance issues and has been invited to present his views before Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange Board and the New York Federal Reserve on corporate governance and shareholder rights matters. He also served on three Blue Ribbon committees sponsored by the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Council of Institutional Investors on executive compensation and corporate governance.

Earlier this month, the NYSE announced a new procedure to allow the investing public to nominate director candidates. The NYSE Nominating and Governance Committee is expected to review candidates with the full NYSE Board and recommend a slate of candidates in April for election. Directors are expected to be elected at the June 3, 2004 NYSE annual meeting.

A copy of CalPERS nomination letter to the NYSE can be found in the CalPERS News Center of the System’s press room at www.calpers.ca.gov.

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets of $167 billion. The System provides retirement and health benefits to 1.4 million State and local public employees and their families.