(The news featured below is a selection from the news covered in Federal Securities Law Reporter, which is distributed to subscribers of Federal Securities Law Reporter.)

Company May Exclude Shareholder Proposal on Compensation Report

The staff agreed that a company could exclude a shareholder proposal on the voting procedure for approval of a compensation committee report in reliance on Rule 14a-8(i)(3). The rule allows the exclusion of shareholder proposals that contain materially false, vague or misleading statements. The proposal recommended an annual shareholder vote for a resolution that would ratify the report. The company represented that the proposal was misleading because it gave the impression that the shareholders would be voting on the comprehensive policy information in the company's "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" when the vote related only to the recommendations and limited information in the "CD & A" disclosure section.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Group (SEC) is reported at ¶79,459.