Shareholders

When the head of JPMorgan Chase met with shareholders to answer for a trading loss of more than $2 billion Tuesday, it was against an evolving political backdrop: Donors from big banks are betting on Mitt Romney to defeat President Obama and repeal new restraints on risky, large-scale investments. "There's no doubt that there's been a big diminution of support for the president," said William M. Daley, Obama's former chief of staff and a former top JPMorgan Chase executive. "People in the financial services sector are saying, ‘The president has been too tough on us, both in policy and on...

Investors and federal investigators turned up the heat on JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday, as shareholders called for pay givebacks from executives responsible for a stunning $2 billion trading loss and the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a preliminary review of the debacle. The FBI case will examine potential criminal wrongdoing at JPMorgan, according to people briefed on the matter, representing the most serious inquiry to stem from the losses. The investigation, which is being led by the FBI's New York office, will in part scrutinize JPMorgan's accounting practices and public disclosures...

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. -- Tyco International shareholders overwhelmingly rejected proposals to move the scandal-tainted conglomerate's incorporation back to the United States and to strictly limit executive compensation -- both moves the company opposed. Fewer than 100 shareholders attended the subdued meeting, and most of those who spoke offered positive opinions of Tyco's new management. That was despite some shareholder anger over Tyco's low stock price -- less than half its $60 per-share peak -- and the legacy of heavy debt and soiled reputation left by its previous top executives.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The CEO of JPMorgan Chase survived a shareholder push Tuesday to strip him of the title of chairman of the board, five days after he disclosed a $2 billion trading loss by the bank. CEO Jamie Dimon also won a shareholder endorsement of his pay package from last year, which totaled $23 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of regulatory filings. Dimon, unusually subdued, told shareholders at the JPMorgan annual meeting that the company's mistakes were ‘‘self-inflicted.

NEW YORK - A group that owns Bank of America stock is waging a battle to get shareholders to vote against reelecting chief executive Ken Lewis and two others to the board of directors. Finger Interests Number One Ltd., which owns about one-fifth of 1 percent of Bank of America stock, said in a regulatory filing that the board disregarded protecting the interests of shareholders during its purchase of New York-based of Merrill Lynch & Co. The investment group is asking shareholders to also vote against reelecting lead director O. Temple Sloan and Jackie Ward.

BILLERICA — Biotech equipment maker Millipore Corp. said yesterday that its shareholders have approved the company’s $6 billion sale to the German drug and chemical maker Merck KGaA. The $107-per-share deal was announced in February and represented about a 50 percent premium to the company’s stock price before buyout speculation. Including assumed debt, Merck KGaA values the deal at $7.2 billion. Millipore said holders of about 79 percent of the company’s outstanding shares voted at the special meeting, with about 98 percent of them favoring the deal.

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators yesterday proposed making it easier for shareholders to nominate directors for ballots of public companies, a change that could give shareholders more say over compensation packages and risk controls. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to open the proposal to public comment. The plan would allow groups who own a certain percentage of a company's stock to put their nominees for director on the annual proxy ballot that is sent to all shareholders.

NEW YORK -- The New York Stock Exchange said its shareholders approved its planned $14.3 billion acquisition of the Paris-based Euronext NV yesterday in a deal that would create the first trans-Atlantic securities market and set the stage for further expansion. The purchase of the European exchange operator is set to be completed during the first quarter of 2007 after getting regulatory approval. The deal is seen as a prelude to an era of cross-border exchanges. John Thain, the 51-year-old chief executive of NYSE Group Inc., said the first order of business will be to...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Next he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed. While Dimon may be greeted by colorful protesters and tough questions at the JPMorgan annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, shareholders are unlikely to call for his head. For them, facing the crisis without Dimon might be a bigger nightmare than the trading loss itself.

PARIS -- The New York Stock Exchange and Euronext NV cleared the biggest remaining obstacle in the path of their planned $14.3 billion combination, as the European exchange's shareholders yesterday voted overwhelmingly to back the deal. Barring a surprise rejection by the NYSE Group Inc.'s shareholders, who vote today, the Euronext meeting sets the stage for the creation of the world's largest stock exchange operator by market capitalization and the first trans-Atlantic equities market.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Next he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed. While Dimon may be greeted by colorful protesters and tough questions at the JPMorgan annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, shareholders are unlikely to call for his head. For them, facing the crisis without Dimon might be a bigger nightmare than the trading loss itself.

NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Next he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed. While Dimon may be greeted by colorful protesters and tough questions at the JPMorgan annual meeting in Tampa on Tuesday, shareholders are unlikely to call for his head. For them, facing the crisis without Dimon might be a bigger nightmare than the loss itself.

Park Sterling Corp. said Monday that it reached a deal to buy fellow bank holding company Citizens South Banking Corp. for about $77.8 million in cash and stock. Under the agreement, Citizens South shareholders can receive either $7 in cash or 1.4799 Park Sterling shares for each of their Citizens South shares, as long as 30 percent of the acquisition will be paid for in cash and 70 percent will be paid for in stock. The cash offer represents a 40 percent premium over Citizens South's Friday closing stock price of $5, while the stock portion of the offer is worth about $6.66 per...

Citigroup shareholders had every reason to vote against a $15 million pay package for chief executive Vikram Pandit last month. The financial giant's stock price has lagged, its dividends have been minimal, and executives at better-performing firms were being paid less than what Pandit was scheduled to get. The decision highlighted one of the more underrated provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial-regulation bill — the "say on pay" provision...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Despite noisy protests inside and outside Bank of America's annual meeting here Wednesday, shareholders signed off on the $7 million 2011 pay package for the chief executive, Brian T. Moynihan. The company said 92 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal, a so-called say on pay resolution that gives stockholders the opportunity to give a nonbinding thumbs-up or thumbs-down on executive pay. Last month, about 55 percent of Citigroup shareholders voted against that bank's compensation plan for chief executive Vikram Pandit and other top...

Yahoo is facing a showdown with a major shareholder who wants the troubled Internet company to fire CEO Scott Thompson for unethical conduct. The shareholder, activist hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, told Yahoo's board of directors last week that he might take legal action if Thompson isn't ousted by noon ET Monday. Loeb contends Yahoo needs to get rid of Thompson because he allowed an inaccuracy about his academic credentials appear in a regulatory filing, as well on the company's website for investors.

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart told shareholders yesterday that she misses her old position at her namesake company and hopes the domestic empire she founded functions as usual while she deals with her legal woes. "I miss my old job terribly," said Stewart, who resigned as chief creative officer and from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. in March after she was convicted of lying about a stock sale. Stewart, who now is founding editorial director and remains the majority shareholder, said she is still involved in the multimedia company she created.

New York City Pension Funds is urging shareholders to vote against the re-election of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke and four other board members due to concerns about the world's largest retailer's bribery investigation in Mexico. The pension group owns 5.6 million shares of Wal-Mart, which has more than 3.4 billion shares outstanding. In a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, the fund says shareholders should vote against Duke, H. Lee Scott Jr., Arne M. Sorenson, S. Robson Walton and Christopher J. Williams during the company's annual meeting on June 1. In late April,...