Sincerely, | |
/s/ William C. Bayless Jr.
|
|
WILLIAM C. BAYLESS JR. | |
President
and
Chief
Executive Officer
|
(i) |
To
elect nine directors to a one-year term of office expiring at the
2007
Annual Meeting of Stockholders or until their successors are duly
elected
and qualified;
|
(ii) |
To
ratify Ernst & Young LLP as our independent auditors for 2006;
and
|
(iii) |
To
consider and act upon any other matters that may properly be brought
before the Annual Meeting and at any adjournments or postponements
thereof.
|
By Order of the Board of Directors, | |
/s/ Brian B. Nickel
|
|
BRIAN B. NICKEL | |
Chief
Financial Officer and
Secretary
|
Questions
and Answers
|
1
|
Election
of Directors
|
3
|
Board
of Directors
|
3
|
Board
Composition
|
3
|
Board
Committees
|
5
|
Consideration
of Director Nominees
|
6
|
Governance
of the Company
|
7
|
Board
Independence and Meetings
|
7
|
Director
Qualifications; Limits on Board Service
|
7
|
Term
Limits; Retirement Age
|
8
|
Board
and Committee Evaluations
|
8
|
Number
of Directors; Director Vacancies
|
8
|
Stockholder
Approval of Amendment of Our Charter and Bylaws and Transactions
Outside
the Ordinary Course of Business
|
8
|
Guidelines
on Governance and Codes of Ethics
|
9
|
Communication
with the Board of Directors
|
9
|
Stock
Ownership Guidelines
|
9
|
Management
Succession
|
10
|
Compensation
of Directors
|
10
|
Executive
and Senior Officers
|
11
|
Executive
Officers
|
11
|
Senior
Officers
|
11
|
Security
Ownership
|
13
|
Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
|
14
|
Compensation
Committee Report on Executive Compensation
|
15
|
Compensation
|
17
|
Executive
Officer Compensation
|
17
|
Common
Units / PIUs
|
17
|
Outperformance
Bonus Plan
|
18
|
Employment
Contracts, Termination of Employment and Change-In Control
Arrangements
|
18
|
Compensation
Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
|
19
|
Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions
|
20
|
Common
Stock Performance Graph
|
21
|
Audit
Committee Information
|
22
|
Report
of the Audit Committee
|
22
|
Independent
Auditor Fees
|
23
|
Ratification
of the Selection of Independent Auditors
|
24
|
Stockholder
Proposals
|
24
|
2005
Annual Report
|
24
|
APPENDIX
A: Audit Committee Charter
|
Q:
|
What
am I voting on?
|
A: |
Election
of nine directors to hold office for a one-year term and ratification
of
Ernst & Young LLP as our independent auditors for
2006.
|
Q: |
Who
is entitled to vote?
|
A: |
Stockholders
as of the close of business on March 24, 2006 are entitled to vote
at the
Annual Meeting. Each share of common stock is entitled to one
vote.
|
Q: |
How
do I vote?
|
A: |
Sign
and date each proxy card you receive and return it in the prepaid
envelope. If you do not mark any selections, the proxy holders
named on
your proxy card will vote your shares in favor of all of the director
nominees and in favor of the ratification of Ernst & Young LLP as our
independent auditors for 2006. You may change your vote or revoke
your
proxy at any time before the Annual Meeting by submitting written
notice
to our Secretary, submitting another proxy that is properly signed
and
later dated or voting in person at the Annual Meeting. In each
case, the
later submitted votes will be recorded and the earlier votes revoked.
If
you hold your shares in street name, please follow the procedures
required
by your bank, broker or other nominee to revoke a proxy. You should
contact that firm directly for more information on these
procedures.
|
In
their discretion, the proxy holders are authorized to vote on any
other
matters that may properly come before the Annual Meeting and at any
postponement or adjournment thereof. The Board knows of no other
items of
business that will be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting
other than the proposals described in this Proxy Statement. In addition,
no stockholder proposals or nominations were received on a timely
basis,
so no such matters may be brought to a vote at the Annual
Meeting.
|
Q: |
Is
my vote confidential?
|
A: |
Yes.
Proxy cards, ballots and voting tabulations that identify individual
stockholders are confidential. Only the inspectors of election and
certain
employees associated with processing proxy cards and counting the
vote
have access to your card. Additionally, all comments directed to
management (whether written on the proxy card or elsewhere) will
remain
confidential, unless you ask that your name be
disclosed.
|
Q: |
Who
will count the vote?
|
A:
|
All
votes will be tabulated by the inspector of election appointed for
the
Annual Meeting, who will separately tabulate affirmative and negative
votes and withheld votes and abstentions. In order to be elected
as a
director, a nominee must receive a plurality of the votes cast at
the
Annual Meeting at which a quorum is present. In order for Ernst &
Young LLP to be ratified as our independent auditors for 2006, the
proposal must receive a majority of the votes cast at the Annual
Meeting
at which a quorum is present. For purposes of calculating votes cast
on a
proposal, abstentions and broker non-votes will not be counted as
votes
cast and will have no effect on the result of the vote on the proposal.
“Broker non-votes” are proxies from brokers or other nominees indicating
that such person has not received instructions from the beneficial
owner
or other person entitled to vote the shares that are the subject
of the
proxy on a particular matter with respect to which the broker or
other
nominee does not have discretionary voting
power.
|
Q:
|
What
constitutes a quorum?
|
A: |
As
of the record date for the Annual Meeting, 17,203,573 shares of common
stock were issued and outstanding. A majority of the outstanding
shares,
present or represented by proxy, constitutes a quorum for the transaction
of business at the Annual Meeting. Abstentions and broker non-votes
will
be counted in determining the presence of a
quorum.
|
Q:
|
Who
can attend the Annual
Meeting?
|
A: |
All
stockholders of record as of March 24, 2006 can
attend.
|
Q:
|
Who
pays for this proxy
solicitation?
|
A: |
We
will bear the entire cost of solicitation of proxies, including
preparation, assembly and mailing of this Proxy Statement, the proxy
card
and any additional information we furnish to stockholders. Copies
of
solicitation materials will be furnished to banks, brokerage houses,
fiduciaries and custodians holding shares of our common stock in
their
names that are beneficially owned by others to forward to these beneficial
owners. We may reimburse persons representing beneficial owners for
their
costs of forwarding the solicitation material to such beneficial
owners.
Original solicitation of proxies by mail may be supplemented by telephone,
facsimile, electronic mail or personal solicitation by our directors,
officers or employees. We will not pay any additional compensation
to
directors, officers or employees for such
services.
|
· |
the
merger will merge one of our 90% or more owned subsidiaries into
us
without amending our charter other than in limited respects and without
altering the contract rights of the stock of the subsidiary (in which
case
only the approval of our Board of Directors and the board of directors
of
the subsidiary is necessary);
|
· |
we
are the successor corporation in a share exchange (in which case
only the
approval of our Board of Directors is necessary);
or
|
· |
we
are the survivor in the merger and the merger does not change the
terms of
any class or series of our outstanding stock, or otherwise amend
our
charter, and the number of shares of stock of each class or series
outstanding immediately before the merger does not increase by more
than
20% of the number of shares of each such class or series of stock
that was
outstanding immediately prior to effectiveness of the merger (in
which
case only the approval of our Board of Directors is necessary).
|
Name
of Beneficial Owner
|
Amount
and Nature of Beneficial Ownership Number of Shares Beneficially
Owned
|
Percent
of Class
|
|||||
Cohen
& Steers, Inc.
|
1,851,900
|
(1)
|
10.7
|
%
|
|||
FMR
Corp.
|
1,428,620
|
(2)
|
8.3
|
%
|
|||
Davis
Selected Advisors, L.P.
|
1,421,190
|
(3)
|
8.2
|
%
|
|||
Deutsche
Bank AG
|
1,354,604
|
(4)
|
7.8
|
%
|
|||
ING
Clarion Real Estate Securities
|
1,290,859
|
(5)
|
7.5
|
%
|
|||
Columbia
Wanger Asset Management, L.P.
|
1,170,000
|
(6)
|
6.8
|
%
|
|||
Morgan
Stanley
|
1,116,306
|
(7)
|
6.5
|
%
|
|||
AMVESCAP
PLC
|
978,300
|
(8)
|
5.7
|
%
|
|||
William C. Bayless
Jr.
|
73,786
|
(9)
|
*
|
||||
R.D. Burck
|
3,000
|
*
|
|||||
G.
Steven Dawson
|
8,000
|
*
|
|||||
Cydney
C. Donnell
|
2,100
|
*
|
|||||
Michael
J. Henneman
|
543,668
|
(10)
|
3.0
|
%
|
|||
Edward Lowenthal
|
15,000
|
|
*
|
||||
Brian B. Nickel
|
45,997
|
(11)
|
*
|
||||
Scott H. Rechler
|
57,000
|
|
*
|
||||
Winston W. Walker
|
9,000
|
*
|
|||||
Greg
A. Dowell
|
18,250
|
(12)
|
*
|
||||
James
C. Hopke, Jr.
|
3,194
|
(13)
|
*
|
||||
All
directors and executive officers as a group (11 persons)
|
778,995
|
(14)
|
4.3
|
%
|
(1) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of Cohen & Steers, Inc. is 280 Park Avenue,
10th
Floor, New York, New York 10017. Each of Cohen & Steers, Inc. and
Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. beneficially owned an
aggregate of 1,851,900 shares and possessed sole voting power over
1,816,700 shares and sole dispositive power over 1,851,900
shares.
|
(2) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of FMR Corp. is 82 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA
02109.
FMR Corp. beneficially owned an aggregate of 1,428,620 shares and
possessed sole voting power over 122,000 shares and sole dispositive
power
over 1,428,620 shares.
|
(3) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of Davis Selected Advisors, L.P. is 2949 East Elvira
Road, Suite 101, Tucson, Arizona 85706. Davis Selected Advisors,
L.P.
beneficially owned an aggregate of 1,421,190 shares and possessed
sole
voting and sole dispositive power over 1,421,190
shares.
|
(4) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of Deutsche Bank AG is Taunusanlage 12, D-60325,
Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany. Each of Deutsche
Bank AG
and RREEF America, L.L.C. beneficially owned an aggregate of 1,354,604
shares and possessed sole voting and sole
|
(5) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2004. The address of ING Clarion Real Estate Securities is 259 Radnor
Chester Road, Suite 205, Radnor, PA 19087. ING Clarion Real Estate
Securities beneficially owned an aggregate of 1,290,859 shares and
possessed sole voting and dispositive power over 1,123,959
shares.
|
(6) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of Columbia Wanger Asset Management, L.P. is 227
West
Monroe Street, Suite 3000, Chicago, Illinois 60606. Each of Columbia
Wanger Asset Management, L.P. and WAM Acquisition GP, Inc. beneficially
owned an aggregate of 1,170,000 shares and possessed sole voting
and sole
dispositive power over 1,170,000
shares.
|
(7) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of Morgan Stanley is 1585 Broadway, New York, NY
10036.
Morgan Stanley beneficially owned an aggregate of 1,116,306 shares,
possessed sole voting and sole dispositive power over 818,398 shares
and
shared voting and shared dispositive power over 348 shares, and Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc. beneficially owned an aggregate
of
1,025,720 shares and possessed sole voting and sole dispositive power
over
752,865 shares.
|
(8) |
This
information is based upon information contained in filings made by
the
stockholder with the SEC reporting beneficial ownership as of December
31,
2005. The address of AMVESCAP PLC is 30 Finsbury Square, London EC2A
1AG,
England. AMVESCAP PLC beneficially owned an aggregate of 978,300
shares
and possessed sole voting and sole dispositive power over 978,300
shares.
|
(9) |
Includes
23,238 restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) and 48,400 common units of limited
partnership interest in our operating partnership (“Common Units”). Such
Common Units are immediately redeemable for cash or, at our election,
an
equal number of shares of our common
stock.
|
(10) |
Comprised
of 543,668 Common Units. Such Common Units are redeemable for cash
or, at
our election, an equal number or shares of our common stock after
March 1,
2007.
|
(11) |
Includes
15,492 RSAs and 29,040 Common Units. Such Common Units are immediately
redeemable for cash or, at our election, an equal number of shares
of our
common stock.
|
(12) |
Includes
6,587 RSAs and 10,890 Common Units. Such Common Units are immediately
redeemable for cash or, at our election, an equal number of shares
of our
common stock.
|
(13) |
Includes
3,024 RSAs.
|
(14) |
Includes
48,341 RSAs and 631,998 Common Units, 88,330 of which are immediately
redeemable and 543,668 of which are redeemable after March 1, 2007,
in
each case for cash or, at our election, an equal number of shares
of our
common stock.
|
· |
support
our business objectives to produce consistent earnings growth and
increase
stockholder value;
|
· |
attract,
reward, motivate and retain talented
executives;
|
· |
tie
executive compensation to our financial performance;
and
|
· |
link
executives’ goals with stockholders’
interests.
|
· |
the
development and implementation of a strategic
plan;
|
· |
re-leasing
of our owned off-campus assets to achieve revenue growth
targets;
|
· |
acquisitions
and commencement of development and construction of owned off-campus
assets to achieve asset growth
targets;
|
· |
growth
of third party service revenues;
|
· |
the
completion of recapitalization transactions to fund growth objectives;
and
|
· |
the
effectiveness of management’s overall performance, with an emphasis on
growth in same store net operating
income.
|
Annual
Compensation
|
||||||
Name
and Principal Position
|
Year
|
Salary
|
Bonus
|
Other
Annual
Compensation
(1)
|
Long-Term
Compensation:
RSAs
(2)
|
All
Other
Compensation
(3)
|
William
C. Bayless, Jr.
|
2005
|
$
300,000
|
$
175,000
|
$
18,802
|
$
300,000
|
$
2,100
|
Chief
Executive Officer and
|
2004
|
253,333
|
130,000
|
--
|
300,000
|
--
|
President
|
2003
|
210,000
|
80,000
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
Brian
B. Nickel
|
2005
|
250,000
|
125,000
|
12,535
|
200,000
|
--
|
Executive
Vice President, Chief
|
2004
|
210,333
|
115,000
|
--
|
200,000
|
--
|
Financial
Officer and Secretary
|
2003
|
175,000
|
100,000
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
Greg
A. Dowell
|
2005
|
170,000
|
87,500
|
3,134
|
125,000
|
2,069
|
Executive
Vice President and
|
2004
|
130,000
|
40,000
|
--
|
50,000
|
--
|
Chief
of Operations
|
2003
|
124,000
|
25,000
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
James
C. Hopke, Jr. (4)
|
2005
|
116,667
|
60,000
|
8,671
|
75,000
|
28,910
|
Executive
Vice President and
|
2004
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
Chief
Investment Officer
|
2003
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
(1) |
Represents
the amount of cash dividends paid on RSAs for Messrs. Bayless, Nickel
and
Dowell. The amount for Mr. Hopke represents tax reimbursement payments
for
relocation expenses.
|
(2) |
Amounts
for 2005 represent the value of RSAs as of January 31, 2006, the
date of
grant. Amounts for 2004 represent the value of RSAs as of February
16,
2005, the date of grant. All awards vest in five equal annual installments
beginning on February 28 of the year following the date of grant,
except
for the 2004 grant to Mr. Dowell, which vests in three equal annual
installments beginning on February 28, 2006. Dividends on RSAs are
paid at
the same rate and time as paid to holders of our common
stock.
|
(3) |
Amounts
consist of an employer matching contribution under our 401(k) plan
for
Messrs. Bayless and Dowell and $1,365 of a matching contribution
under our
401(k) plan and $27,545 of reimbursed relocation expenses for Mr.
Hopke.
|
(4) |
Mr.
Hopke joined us in May 2005 and as such his salary represents a
partial
year of service.
|
· |
an
annual base salary of $300,000 for Mr. Bayless, $250,000 for Mr.
Nickel
and $175,000 for each of Messrs. Dowell and Hopke, subject in each
case to
increases in accordance with our normal executive compensation
practices;
|
· |
eligibility
for annual cash bonus awards determined by the Compensation Committee
or
in the event that we have a formal annual bonus plan for other senior
executives, the bonus will be determined in accordance with the terms
of
the bonus plan on the same basis as other senior
|
· |
in
the case of Messrs. Bayless and Nickel, a grant of 48,400 and 29,040
PIUs,
respectively, representing a 0.40% and 0.24% limited partnership
interest
in our operating partnership, respectively, valued at $847,000 and
$508,200, respectively, based on the value of our common stock at
the
consummation of the IPO, each of which was immediately
vested;
|
· |
an
outperformance award to Messrs. Bayless, Nickel, Dowell and Hopke
of
110,305 shares, 66,183 shares, 29,415 shares and 20,000 shares,
respectively, subject to the terms and conditions of our Outperformance
Bonus Program; and
|
· |
participation
in other employee benefit plans applicable generally to our
executives.
|
· |
a
cash payment equal to 299% for Mr. Bayless, 200% for Mr. Nickel and
100%
for Messrs. Dowell and Hopke, in each case times the sum of his
then-current annual base salary plus the average annual bonus paid
or
payable in respect of the last prior three years payable over the
remaining term of his non-competition
agreement;
|
· |
his
prorated annual bonus for the year in which the termination
occurs;
|
· |
health
benefits for two years following the executive’s termination of employment
at the same cost to the executive as in effect immediately preceding
such
termination, subject to reduction to the extent that the executive
receives comparable benefits from a subsequent employer;
and
|
· |
excise
tax equalization payments.
|
Total
Approximate Fees
|
|||||||
Types
of Services (1)
|
2005
|
2004
|
|||||
Audit
Fees (2)
|
$
|
764,000
|
$
|
1,694,000
|
|||
Audit-Related
Fees (3)
|
62,000
|
170,000
|
|||||
Tax
Fees (4)
|
165,000
|
60,000
|
|||||
All
Other Fees (5)
|
--
|
2,000
|
|||||
Total
(6)
|
$
|
991,000
|
$
|
1,926,000
|
(1) |
All
such services subsequent to our IPO were preapproved by the Audit
Committee.
|
(2) |
Fees
for audit services billed in 2005 and 2004 included the following:
(i)
audit of our annual financial statements; (ii) reviews of quarterly
financial statements; (iii) audit of internal control over financial
reporting; and (iv) services related to SEC matters, including review
of
registration statements filed and related issuances of comfort letters,
consents and other services. Fees for audit services billed in 2005
included $250,000 related to the audit of our internal controls over
financial reporting. During 2004, audit fees included approximately
$1,621,000 for services provided in conjunction with the IPO.
|
(3) |
Fees
for audit-related services billed in 2005 and 2004 included financial
accounting and reporting consultations and audits of certain subsidiaries.
|
(4) |
Fees
for tax services billed in 2005 and 2004 included tax compliance
services
and tax planning and advice
services.
|
(5) |
Fees
for all other services billed in 2004 consisted of permitted non-audit
services, such as access to Ernst & Young LLP’s accounting and
auditing research database.
|
(6) |
Excludes
amounts that we reimbursed Ernst & Young LLP for out-of-pocket
expenses, which totaled approximately $6,000 in 2005 and $28,000
in
2004.
|
By Order of the Board of Directors, | |
/s/ Brian B. Nickel
|
|
BRIAN B. NICKEL | |
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary |
1) |
Select,
appoint, retain, dismiss and oversee the work of the Company's
independent
auditors.
|
2) |
Pre-approve
the retention of the Company's independent auditors for audit and
non-audit services (other than as provided in Section 10a(i)(B)
of
the Exchange Act relating to de
minimus
exceptions from the pre-approval requirements). The Committee may
delegate
the duty to pre-approve any such payment to any member of the Committee,
provided that the decisions of such member to grant pre-approvals
shall be
presented to the full Committee for
ratification.
|
3) |
Review
all related party transactions entered into by the Company with
any of the
Company's directors or executive
officers.
|
4) |
Ensure
audit partner rotation as required by law or the rules of the
New York
Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”)
and consider whether, in order to assure continuing independence
of the
independent auditors, there should be regular rotation of the
audit firm
itself.
|
5) |
Review
and reassess the adequacy of this Charter annually and recommend
any
proposed changes to the Board for
approval.
|
6) |
Review,
evaluate and reassess the performance of the Committee annually
and
discuss such annual performance evaluation with the
Board.
|
7) |
Review
the Company's annual audited financial statements and quarterly
unaudited
financial statements with the Company's management and independent
auditors and recommend whether the annual audited financial statements
should be included in the Company’s annual report on Form
10-K.
|
8) |
Review
the Company's disclosures under "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's
periodic
reports and registration statements filed with the
SEC.
|
9) |
Review
and discuss with the Company's management and independent auditors
the
Company's quarterly earnings press releases (paying particular
attention
to any use of "Pro Forma" or "Adjusted" non-GAAP, information)
and
earnings guidance. Provided that such discussions may be on general
terms
(i.e.,
discussion of the types of information to be disclosed and the
type of
presentation to be made and the Committee need not discuss in
advance each
earnings release or each instance in which the Company may provide
earnings guidance.
|
10) |
Review
and discuss generally with the Company's management and independent
auditors the type of other financial information provided to
analysts and
rating agencies, provided that the Committee need not discuss
such other
financial information before it is provided to analysts and rating
agencies.
|
11) |
Review
any major changes to the Company's auditing and accounting principles
and
practices as suggested by the Company's management or independent
auditors.
|
12) |
At
least annually, obtain and review a report by the Company's independent
auditors describing:
|
a) |
the
auditors' internal quality-control
procedures;
|
b) |
any
material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control
review,
or peer review, of the firm, or by any inquiry or investigation
by
governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding
five years,
respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the independent
auditors and any steps taken to deal with any such issues;
and
|
c) |
all
relationships between the independent auditors and the Company
(to assess
the auditor's independence).
|
13) |
Review
and receive periodic reports (as well as the written disclosures
and the
letter from the independent auditors required by Independence Standards
Board Standard No. I as may be modified or supplemented) from the
Company's independent auditors regarding the auditor's qualifications,
performance, independence and their registration with the SEC;
discuss
such materials with the auditors; after receipt of the annual report
provided by the independent auditors discussed above in Section
12,
present its conclusions with respect to the independent auditors
to the
full Board; and, if so determined by the Committee, recommend that
the
Board take appropriate action to insure the independence of the
auditors
and continued registration with the
SEC.
|
14) |
Review
with the Company's legal counsel and management any legal matters
that may
have a material impact on the financial statements or the Company's
compliance policies.
|
15) |
Review
with the Company's independent auditors the matters required to
be
discussed by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, including
any
problems or difficulties the auditors may have encountered and
any
management letter provided (or intended to be provided) by the
auditors
and management's response,
including:
|
a) |
any
difficulties encountered in the course of the audit work, including
any
restrictions on the scope of the activities or access to required
information;
|
b) |
any
changes required in the planned scope of the external
audit;
|
c) |
any
significant disagreements with
management;
|
d) |
any
material written communications between the independent auditors
and the
Company's management, such as any management letter or schedule
of
unadjusted differences; and
|
e) |
any
accounting adjustments that were proposed by the Company's independent
auditors but were "passed" (as immaterial or otherwise), and any
material
communications between the audit team and the independent auditors'
national office respecting auditing or accounting issues presented
by the
engagement.
|
16) |
Ensure
that the Company has an internal audit function to provide management
and
the Company with ongoing assessments of the Company’s risk management
processes and systems of internal control. The Company may choose
to
outsource this function to a firm other than its independent auditors.
Review the adequacy of the Company's internal audit
function.
|
17) |
Review
and discuss with the Board any issues that arise with respect to
the
quality or integrity of the performance of the Company's internal
audit
function.
|
18) |
Review
annually with the Company's management and independent
auditors:
|
a) |
analyses
prepared by the Company's management and/or independent auditors
setting
forth significant financial reporting issues and judgments made
in
connection with the preparation of the financial statements, including
analyses of the effects of alternative generally accepted accounting
principles ("GAAP")
on financial statements; and
|
b) |
the
effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives, as well as review
and
approve any off-balance sheet structures on the Company's financial
statements.
|
19) |
Review
at least annually major issues regarding accounting principles
and
financial statement presentations, including any significant changes
in
the Company's selection or application of accounting principles,
and major
issues as to the adequacy of the Company's internal controls, and
any
special audit steps adopted in light of material control
deficiencies.
|
20) |
Review
the audit report provided by the Company's independent auditors,
which
should include:
|
a) |
all
critical accounting policies and practices used;
and
|
b) |
all
alternative treatments of financial information within generally
accepted
accounting principles that have been discussed with the Company's
management, ramifications of the use of such alternative disclosures
and
treatments, and the treatment preferred by the independent
auditors.
|
21) |
Meet
periodically with the Company's management and independent auditors
in
separate sessions to review the Company's policies with respect
to major
risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and
control
such exposures.
|
22) |
Meet
periodically with the Company's management, the independent auditors
and
the internal auditors (or personnel or independent third party
responsible
for the internal audit function), in separate sessions, to encourage
entirely frank discussions with the Committee, including, without
limitation, discussions regarding the Company's financial reporting
control procedures, the quality of the Company's financial reporting,
the
adequacy and competency of the Company's financial management and
the
Company’s policies with respect to major risk exposures and the steps
management has taken to monitor and control such
exposures.
|
23) |
Meet
and discuss with the internal auditors (or personnel or independent
third
party responsible for the internal audit function) the Company's
risk
management processes and systems of internal
control.
|
24) |
Establish
and maintain procedures for:
|
a) |
the
receipt, retention, and treatment of complaints received from the
Company’s employees or any other person regarding accounting, internal
accounting controls, or auditing matters;
and
|
b) |
the
confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company
of concerns
regarding questionable accounting or auditing
matters.
|
25) |
Fulfill
the responsibilities of the Committee set forth in applicable laws
and
regulations, the Company's bylaws and any code of business conduct
and
corporate governance guidelines of the
Company.
|
26) |
Set
clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the
independent
auditors in compliance with the rules and regulations set forth
by the SEC
and the NYSE.
|
27) |
Review
the effect of regulatory and accounting initiative, as well as
off-balance
sheet structures, if any, on the financial statements of the
Company.
|
28) |
Meet
regularly with the Board to effect the Committee's purposes noted
above.
|
29) |
Do
every other act incidental to, arising out of or in connection
with, or
otherwise related to, the authority granted to the Committee hereby
or the
carrying out of the Committee's duties and responsibilities
hereunder.
|
2.
|
Ratification
of Ernst & Young as our independent auditors for
2006
|
Date | Share Owner sign here | Co-Owner sign here |