The City ofNew York Office of the Comptroller, a shareholder of ,proposed the amendment of the company's recently adopted proxy access bylaws.
In 2015,New York Community's board pushed for proxy access that allows up to 10qualifying shareholders with 5% aggregate ownership to nominate up to 20% ofthe board. This was accepted by shareholders. The Comptroller's own proposal —similar in terms to the one it is raising this year — was rejected.
Accordingto a preliminary proxy statement filed April 5, the Comptroller argues that NewYork Community's proxy access is "effectively unusable by all but itslargest shareholders." It recommends eliminating the group limit of 10 andthe lowering of the minimum aggregate stake to 3%. It also proposes that thenumber of nominees that can be included in proxy materials be less than orequal to 25% of the board.
New YorkCommunity's annual shareholder meeting is on June 7.