The Annual General Meeting of ABB, in which ethos holds stock, will be held on 12 March 2002. Taking account of recent revelations concerning the indemnities granted to previous CEOs and considering the difficult financial situation faced by the Group, ethos has decided to be present at the meeting.
Several items on the agenda merit specific attention. In particular :
Granting discharge (item 3) : Retirement benefits provided to Percy Barnevik and Göran Lindahl, previous CEOs of ABB Ltd., totalling CHF 233 million, were negotiated and approved by the Board of Directors under circumstances which have still not been elucidated. Due to a lack of good corporate governance which could be detrimental to ABB, ethos will not grant discharge to the Board of Directors or to company management, in conformity with its voting guidelines.
Decision not to pay any dividend (point 4) : For the first time in the history of the company, ABB has announce a net loss (USD 691 million). Taking account of the difficult situation in which the company finds itself, ethos supports the Board of Directors in its efforts to reinforce the financial basis of the Group. Ethos accepts, on an exceptional basis, that no dividend is paid.
Varia, special control (point 8) : certain shareholders have submitted a written list of questions to the Board of Directors and have informed the Board that during the Annual General Meeting, they intend to request that a special control of the company be set up.Ethos has no further information as to the nature of the questions or the extent of the control requested. The Foundation will only be able to decide on its position during the meeting.
