[11096]
July 7, 1999
TO: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE No. 28-99
RE: MEETING TO DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ISSUES
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Institute members have complained about the lack of protection for minority shareholders
generally, and foreign minority shareholders in particular, in many countries in which US mutual funds
invest. Under the laws and practices of some countries, for example, control shareholders have been
able to sell their shares at a premium not shared by minority shareholders or have been able to take other
unilateral actions to disenfranchise minority shareholders or impair the value of their investments.
To help address these problems, the Institute intends to develop a survey that details the extent
to which the laws and practices of various countries provide protection to minority shareholders and
how foreign shareholders such as US mutual funds can assert any such rights. The survey would be
designed both to provide detailed information to Institute members about laws and practices abroad and
to serve as a basis for seeking improvements in countries whose corporate governance standards are
inadequate.
The Institute has scheduled a meeting for July 27, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. at the Institute to discuss
this initiative and to provide members with an opportunity to express their views on the specific topics
and countries that should be covered in the survey. The meeting will be held in the Institute’s 11th floor
conference room at 1401 H Street NW, Washington, DC. Lunch will be served after the meeting.
Please use the attached form to indicate whether you will be able to attend the meeting.
If you have any questions about the international corporate governance initiative or the meeting
please contact me [phone: (202) 326-5826, fax: (202) 326-5841, e-mail: podesta@ici.org] or Bob Grohowski
[phone: (202) 371-5430, fax: (202) 326-5841, e-mail: rcg@ici.org].
Mary S. Podesta
Senior Counsel
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