The committee, to be called the Corporate Accountability and Listing Standards Committee, will be co-chaired by H. Carl McCall, Comptroller of the State of New York; Gerald M. Levin, CEO of AOL Time Warner Inc.; and Leon E. Panetta, director of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. All serve on the NYSE Board of Directors.
The committee was established following discussion at the Exchange's Feb. 7 Board meeting, and subsequent discussions with SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt. The committee will gather input from the various constituencies of the Exchange and the financial-services industry to provide guidance to the NYSE and industry governing bodies on measures to bolster public confidence. It will review corporate governance and shareholder accountability issues such as composition of corporate boards and committees, disclosure requirements, and the role of independent audit committees. The committee will issue a report on its findings as early as June 2002.
"It is imperative that we reinforce trust and confidence in our publicly traded companies and in our markets," said NYSE Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso. "Investors demand and deserve nothing less than timely and accurate disclosure, sound corporate governance, and an established set of practices that ensure transparency and integrity. This is in the best interests of investors, issuers and the markets.
"Are there steps that should be taken to build additional safeguards for investors?," added Mr. Grasso. "The issues to date have been company-specific, not systemic; but we need to step back and ask what must we do to restore the public's faith. Despite recent failures, our economic system is the most admired in the world and largely driven by investor confidence and public participation. More than 85 million Americans are shareholders. They are not asking for guaranteed profits; they are asking for and deserve guaranteed transparency and a level playing field."
Mr. Grasso emphasized the special committee will work in tandem with the legislative and regulatory bodies as well as other marketplaces. "Competition among markets must be put aside to restore public confidence," he said.
In addition to the co-chairs, members of the committee will include:
- Myra Drucker, Chief Investment Officer, GM Asset Management, GM Trust Co., and Chairman, NYSE Pension Managers Advisory Committee;
- Richard Heckmann, Chairman of K2 Inc., and Chairman, NYSE Listed Company Advisory Committee;
- David Komansky, Chairman & CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Vice Chairman, NYSE.
- Kenneth G. Langone, Chairman of the Board of Invemed Associates LLC, and Chairman, NYSE Human Resources Policy & Compensation Committee;
- Peter N. Larson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (retired), Brunswick Corporation;
- Martin Lipton, Partner at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, and Chairman, NYSE Legal Advisory Committee;
- Robert M. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer, LaBranche & Co., LLC, and Vice Chairman, NYSE;
- Kurt P. Stocker, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, and Chairman, NYSE Individual Investors Advisory Committee.
- Lawrence W. Sonsini, Chairman and CEO of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati;
- Alex Trotman, Chairman of Imperial Chemicals Industries PLC, Chairman of the Board & CEO of Ford Motor Company (retired), and Chairman, NYSE Quality of Markets Committee.
