Investors Respond to Wal-Mart
Faith-based investors respond to Wall Street Journal investigation of "sophisticated surveillance operation" of shareholders at Wal-Mart

NEW YORK, NY///April 9th, 2007 ///Faith-based investors, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, issued a response today to media reports that allege Wal-Mart has been engaged in "sophisticated surveillance operation[s]" involving critical shareholders and others.

Sister Judy Byron, Father Michael Hoolahan, Sister Susan Mika, and Mark Regier today released the following statement:

A recent investigation by Wall Street Journal reporters Ann Zimmerman and Gary McWilliams (Inside Wal-Mart's 'Threat Research' Operation, April 4, 2007) alleges that Wal-Mart has engaged in "sophisticated surveillance operation that included snooping not only on employees, but also on critics, stockholders and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co."

The article further states "Wal-Mart also directed its surveillance operations at critical shareholders. According to a January 2007 memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, security units were asked to 'do some preliminary background work on the potential threat assessment' of those submitting proposals to its June shareholder meeting, particularly those whose resolutions the company was trying to block. The list included proposals from a Boerne, Texas, religious group; the New York City Controller's office."

That religious group was the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, a Roman Catholic order of women religious and a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. The Sisters are one of dozens of ICCR members who have been engaging Wal-Mart on the company's corporate responsibility practices since 1990. The New York City Comptroller's Office is also affiliated with ICCR. ICCR, a coalition of 275 institutional investors with $110 billion in collective assets, has engaged companies on the social and financial implications of corporate behavior for over 35 years. ICCR members filed 315 resolutions at 209 companies for the 2007 shareholder season.

Since 1990, ICCR has been at the forefront of efforts to improve Wal-Mart by improving Wal-Mart's treatment of employees, especially women and people of color, improve Wal-Mart's health care policies, improve the working conditions in the Wal-Mart supply chain, improve Wal-Mart's environmental practices, and improve the overall financial performance of the company. Many ICCR members see these engagements as a part of fiduciary responsibilities.

ICCR members have attended every Wal-Mart annual shareholders meeting since 1990 and will do so again this year. We have met with CEO Lee Scott and other senior managers on literally dozens of occasions. We are engaged on every significant corporate responsibility program at Wal-Mart, from their health care policy announcements to their forthcoming sustainability report. And ICCR members or associate members will have five shareholder resolutions at this years' annual general meeting, speaking to issues of corporate governance, executive compensation, political accountability, and access to health care.

We were surprised and disappointed to read the results of the Wall Street Journal investigative report. We view such actions as a serious breach of the trust relationship between shareholders and their company. Nonetheless we commit ourselves to continue to engage the company - enacting our rights and responsibilities as owners - until Wal-Mart is a global leader in labor standards (including access to health care), environmental stewardship, and responsible business practices.

We have believed our relationship with Wal-Mart to be one of mutual respect despite our serious disagreements on health care policy, human rights, labor standards, and environmental stewardship. We pray we have not been mistaken.

We ask that Wal-Mart formally apologize to investors and to others whose expectation of privacy has been breached. More importantly, we ask CEO Lee Scott to shift shareowner resources away from these public relations activities and instead focus on the core issues ICCR and other concerned investors have been bringing to Wal-Mart for almost two decades: the human dignity inherent in each supply chain worker, in-store employee, and customer of Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart's continuing obligation to them and to its shareowners.

Sister Judy Byron represents the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province. Sister Susan Mika represents the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas. Father Michael Hoolahan is the interim executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. Mark Regier is the Chair of the ICCR Governing Board and Stewardship Investing Services Manager of MMA. Sisters Byron and Mika are the primary filers of a shareholder resolution on executive compensation referenced to in the Wall Street Journal report.

About ICCR

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is a 35-year-old international coalition of 275 faith-based institutional investors including denominations, religious communities, pension funds, healthcare corporations, foundations and dioceses with combined portfolios worth an estimated $110 billion. ICCR seeks to build a more just and sustainable society by integrating social values into corporate and investor decisions. ICCR is one of the foremost shareholder advocacy organizations in the world. More detailed information about shareholder resolutions is available from ICCR's Ethvest, the comprehensive, on-line, subscription-based, ethical investor database, and at www.iccr.org.

CONTACT: Dan Rosan, 212-870-2317