CA Names New Directors With Accounting, Corporate Governance Expertise

Computer Associates International Ranger Governance

The new directors bring accounting and corporate governance expertise to the board, areas in which Ranger attacked CA last summer during an unsuccessful proxy bid to gain CA board seats.

Effective April 1, CA's board will include Walter Schuetze, former chief accountant to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Professor Jay Lorsch, a corporate governance expert and professor of human relations at Harvard Business School.

"Their choice to join Computer Associates' team is a strong vote of confidence in our company and our prospects going forward," said Charles Wang, chairman of Islandia, N.Y.-based CA, in a statement.

CA also announced the resignation of board member Linus W. L. Cheung, deputy chairman of Pacific Century CyberWorks. Cheung, appointed last June amid the proxy fight, resigned due to business commitments in Asia, according to a CA statement.

In the letter sent Monday, Stephen Perkins, Ranger's managing director, asked CA's board to fire Wang, President and CEO Sanjay Kumar, and CFO and Senior Vice President of Finance Ira Zar. Ranger was calling for the terminations because the CA management team failed to deliver on promises to improve board membership, the letter stated.

Kumar confirmed last month that the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office opened preliminary inquires into the company. Published reports said the inquiries were intended to determine whether CA had improperly recognized revenue.