Boards Of Directors

California's political watchdog agency announced it has found "probable cause" to accuse a two-term board member at the California Public Employees' Retirement System of violating the state's Political Reform Act. Priya Mathur, the chairwoman of CalPERS' health benefits committee and vice-chairwoman of the investment committee, allegedly failed to file a statement of economic interests for 2007, the California Fair Political Practices Commission said...

Marje Everett, who has run Hollywood Park for the past 18 years, might be ousted before the end of the year. A major stock purchase and promise of a proxy fight by R.D. Hubbard, the owner of race tracks in Ruidoso, N.M., and Kansas City, Kan., leaves Everett, 68, with the strongest challenge to her power since she took over in 1972.

Like the Over the Hill gang back in the saddle for one last shootout, an elite band of senior executives is kicking up a dust storm as it rides to the rescue of some of America's largest corporations: * Proctor & Gamble's ex-Chief Executive John Smale teams up with super-lawyer Ira Milstein to lead a board revolt at General Motors--and is named chairman for his trouble. * Ex-Mobil boss Rawleigh Warner fires the first shot against American Express Co.'

It was an unholy scene: Worshipers hitting other worshipers with pipes and sticks as services ended at a Sikh temple on Lankershim Boulevard. Reports abounded of death threats, serious assaults and intimidation at gunpoint. As the accusations and counter-accusations flew, the entire mess wound up in Los Angeles Superior Court, where turbaned men carrying tiny curved daggers in their belts packed the audience. What is going on here?

Global Crossing Ltd.'s board of directors was unable to rein in profligate spending, put a stop to questionable accounting practices, or head off the fourth-largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history in part because it was compromised by cronyism and chronic instability. Since the end of 1998, Global Crossing has had at least 30 directors on a board whose size has ranged from eight to 17 members. Five of them also served as chief executive of the ambitious telecommunications upstart.

A month ago, at a Securities and Exchange Commission round-table discussion on mutual fund fees and governance, John Markese asked for a show of hands. "How many of you know who your funds' independent directors are?" asked the president of the American Assn. of Individual Investors, turning to an audience of industry officials and observers. "I don't recall seeing a single hand," Markese said. And these were the so-called experts.

The Delaware court ruling Friday favoring Time Inc. over Paramount Communications clearly strengthens the hands of managements against hostile suitors, legal experts and investment bankers said Friday. But the ruling may only have limited impact because it mainly reinforces existing practices and sets no dramatic new legal precedents, experts said. The ruling also could be reversed or modified by the Delaware Supreme Court or other courts, they noted.

The Los Angeles City Community Redevelopment Agency had investments exceeding $500,000 with Far East National Bank last year while Mayor Tom Bradley served as a paid special adviser to the bank, The Times has learned. The redevelopment agency is the second department to deposit city funds with Far East at a time when Bradley was paid $18,000 in fees to furnish the bank with his expertise on business and foreign trade matters.

During the last two months, Westinghouse Electric Corp., Time Warner Inc., and American Express Co. have announced that they will revamp their boards of directors. In two of these cases, the changes are said to have come at the behest of institutional investors, who have conducted a multi-year campaign to improve the financial performance of laggard companies in which they invested.

The corporate reform bill approved by Congress would require company lawyers to report evidence of wrongdoing to boards of directors, a big defeat for the American Bar Assn. and one that could open lawyers to something with which they are all too familiar: lawsuits. Lawyers also are alarmed by broad language in the bill that they believe could be used to turn them into corporate snitches.