The Corporate Monitoring Newsletter

Issue #8 - August 2000

Written by Mark Latham

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Second Front for Corporate Monitoring: Pre-IPO

2. SAVI Proposal Gets 8.9% of Vote First Time Out

3. Plans for 2001 Proxy Season

4. Internet Sites with New Shareowner Power Tools

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1. SECOND FRONT FOR CORPORATE MONITORING: PRE-IPO

The Corporate Monitoring Project has so far focused almost
entirely on mature companies. Having created some momentum
on that front, we are now launching a new initiative on
start-ups. I am seriously considering starting an internet
company and becoming its CEO -- the shoe will be on the other
foot!

The internet is already a significant force for improving
corporate governance at mature companies, but this will take
years to fully develop. What if we create a company where
all shareowners are on-line, all communications and voting
are via internet, and the corporate bylaws are written to
make full use of this new medium? Such a company could have
a huge advantage in gaining the trust of internet users,
since many users will own shares, and will see that
management is fully accountable to them....

Our existing newsletters and bulletins will continue as
before (perhaps less frequently), and we will start a new one
for this initiative, tentatively called the "Pre-IPO Corpmon
Newsletter". To subscribe --
mailto:subscribe-pre-ipo@corpmon.com
_____________________________________________________________

2. SAVI PROPOSAL GETS 8.9% OF VOTE FIRST TIME OUT

Our Shareowners' Alternative Voting Information proposal
received 8.9% of the vote at Whole Foods Market (WFMI) at the
annual shareowner meeting March 27 -- not bad for the first
vote on an entirely new idea. Subsequent discussions with
institutional investors indicate that support will grow as
people gain a better understanding of it. Going for double
digits next time!

However, Washington Mutual (WM) management announced an
approximate preliminary result of only 4% support for SAVI at
their April 18 meeting. We're waiting for definitive numbers
in their next 10-Q.
_____________________________________________________________

3. PLANS FOR 2001 PROXY SEASON

For shareowner proposals at year-2001 meetings, most
submission deadlines are in November 2000. Because of my new
focus on startups, I plan to submit the SAVI proposal at
perhaps only a couple of firms myself. But I encourage other
shareowners to submit it also, as some did last year. Please
let me know -- I'd be glad to advise.

There's a detailed guide to submitting proposals at
http://www.scn.org/earth/wum/2Whatsr.htm
Past arguments to the SEC about SAVI are at
http://www.corpmon.com/SEC.htm
_____________________________________________________________

4. INTERNET SITES WITH NEW SHAREOWNER POWER TOOLS

Pax World Fund has followed the lead of CalPERS and Domini
Social Investments in posting their proxy voting decisions on
the web in advance of each annual meeting. For links see
http://www.corpmon.com/Vote.htm

FOLIO[fn], the new online broker that enables individuals to
cheaply invest in customized stock baskets, has built online
proxy voting into their site. An innovator to watch!
http://www.foliofn.com

Investor's Bullhorn (http://www.ibullhorn.com) will soon
launch a site for enabling institutional and individual
investors to collaborate on voting, proposals, director
nominations etc.

Speaking of the net, my article "The Internet Will Drive
Corporate Monitoring" was recently published in Corporate
Governance International. Send me your postal address for a
free reprint, or see it online at
http://www.corpmon.com/publications.htm

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