Investors pressing Chevron to settle Ecuador case

NEW YORK, May 28, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Only days before its annual shareholder meeting, forty Chevron investors with $580 billion in assets under management have demanded the oil giant settle the $18 billion environmental lawsuit brought by impoverished indigenous groups in the Ecuadorian rainforest almost two decades ago.

The letter from the investors, sent last Friday, comes at a time of increasing pressure from shareholders on Chevron CEO John Watson for his mishandling of the Ecuador litigation. Last week, two prominent investor advisory firms, citing the risk of the Ecuador liability, dealt Watson a huge blow when they recommended shareholders vote for resolutions that directly challenge his authority to remain both as CEO and Chairman of the company, considered a major corporate governance taboo. Read Article