INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
pension fund held 5.3 million fully and partly paid shares of Reliance IndustriesThe California State Teachers' Retirement Fund (CalSTRS)
has decided to vote against the appointment of Saudi Aramco's chairman as an independent director to the board of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance
Industries, BloombergQuint reported.The U.S
pension fund held 5.3 million fully and partly paid shares of Reliance Industries, as of June 30, 2020, according to the last available
disclosure on its website.CalSTRS' voting decision is based on U.S
proxy advisory research firm Glass Lewis' recommendation, BloombergQuint reported on Friday.Reliance, owned by billionaire Ambani, had
appointed Aramco's Yasir Al-Rumayyan as an independent director on July 19 in the process of formalising a deal it had struck with the Saudi
Arabian company to sell 20 per cent stake in its oil-to-chemicals business.The shareholders' voting process to confirm Al-Rumayyan's
appointment as independent director, for a period of three years, will end on Oct
19.Glass Lewis, which makes voting recommendations to more than 1,200 investors across the world, had recommended voting against Al-Rumayyan
"based on the director's status as an independent director" of RIL, the report added.Reliance, CalSTRS and Glass Lewis did not immediately
respond to Reuters requests for a comment.The conglomerate had announced the sale for $15 billion in 2019 to Aramco, the world's top oil
exporting firm, though the deal was stalled after the coronavirus crisis dented oil prices and fuel demand.Last month, Bloomberg News
reported that an agreement between Reliance and Aramco could be reached in the coming weeks
At Aramco's earnings briefing in August, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser had said the company was still doing due diligence on the
Reliance deal.Al-Rumayyan is the chairman of Aramco's Board of Directors and has been the governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi
