CalPERS to withhold votes for nine on Wal-Mart board

(Reuters) - CalPERS, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, said on Wednesday it plans to withhold votes for nine Wal-Mart Stores Inc board members amid allegations that the retailer's top brass failed to adequately investigate widespread bribery in Mexico.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System is the latest shareholder to publicly voice concerns over the board's role after the New York Times in April reported that Wal-Mart de Mexico , which is majority-owned by Wal-Mart, used illegal payments to win market leadership in that country and that top Wal-Mart executives knew about the matter and tried to cover it up.

CalPERS said it plans to withhold votes from Chief Executive Mike Duke, former CEO Lee Scott, Chairman Robson Walton and six others.

CalPERS said it believes the nine were in positions of authority, oversight or management of the company's operations during the period when the alleged bribery took place.

The other six are James Breyer, Michele Burns, Douglas Daft, Jim Walton, Christopher Williams and Linda Wolf. Wal-Mart has 16 nominees in the June 1 election.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl and Lisa Baertlein in Chicago; editing by John Wallace)

Chesapeake defends board to shareholders

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp defended its board of directors in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday as investors push for governance changes at the U.S. oil and gas company.

Analysts and investors have called for change at the company after Reuters reported that Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon had taken out more than $1 billion in loans using his interest in thousands of company wells as collateral.

McClendon's lender, EIG Global Energy Partners, is also a big source of funding for Chesapeake, a situation that could put the executive's interest at odds with shareholders' interests, analysts and academics have said.

"Chesapeake`s board is comprised of independent, highly qualified and accomplished professionals who have the skills and experience necessary to serve on our board," the company said in the letter to investors.

The letter was a response to a letter last week by New York City Comptroller John Liu in which he urged shareholders to withhold support for two Chesapeake directors who are up for re-election.

Liu wrote that shareholders "urgently" needed new directors who would have strong oversight of McClendon.

Chesapeake said in the letter that it had made a number of changes since the April 18 Reuters report, including cutting director compensation 20 percent.

"The changes now being offered, overdue and only incremental, may address some symptoms of a captive board, but hold harmless the root problem — the directors themselves and their failure to protect long-term shareowner value," Liu said in a statement on Wednesday.

Chesapeake's annual meeting is scheduled for June 8. Investors have asked a judge to postpone the meeting, arguing that more disclosures are needed about McClendon's well interests.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; editing by Matthew Lewis)