Disclose Financials to Shareholders

Whereas General Electric is a recognized leader in the corporate business world;
-- and whereas GE's top leadership recently declared that "in a digitized world, the internal workings of companies will be exposed to the world" (GE Annual Report, 2000, p. 5);
-- and whereas accepted standards of disclosure of corporate financial information have been shown before the entire world to be embarrassingly inadequate;
-- and whereas inadequate disclosure has led to loss of investor confidence in major American investment markets, which have recently seen the destruction of eight trillion dollars of the nation's wealth;
-- and whereas this general loss of confidence is a major factor in the large decline in General Electric's share value;
-- and whereas better information about, and transparency of, corporate activities is essential to fully restoring investor confidence;

Therefore be it resolved that General Electric Company in its annual corporate report: 1) provide stockholders a directory listing all businesses of the Company, revealing percentage of ownership, and showing how these businesses fit into the corporate structure, 2) list the gross earnings, profits and losses, assets and liabilities of all these businesses, and 3) disclose the major investments, activities and significant risks of these businesses. Due to the vast size and range of General Electric's businesses, each one of which is large enough to require a report of its own, additional substantial financial and activity reports for each of the corporate divisions, and all of their parts, should, as soon as feasible, be placed on the internet for public inspection, and made available in print to investors upon request.

Supporting Statement:
While acknowledging with appreciation the extensive, and recently greatly improved, information that is provided by General Electric in the Annual Report, and its website, the shortcomings must be understood and addressed. Investors should have the right to know what is being done with their money. For this purpose, more in depth information about the various business activities is essential.

General Electric Company is, according to its 2001 Annual Report, composed of two main divisions, GE and GE Capital Services (GECS). GE has in turn seven major business aggregates, while GECS has five. GECS, in the 2001 report, included accounting of revenues of the next lower level, that of its actual businesses, and general information about almost all of these is included. Three of the business aggregates belonging to GE, Industrial Products and Systems, Materials and Technical Products and Services, had information about their segments, but the other four, NBC, Power Systems, Aircraft Engines and Appliances did not. In total these generated over $43 billion in revenue. This is quite a large amount of money to give such a minimal account of, even for GE. The investors, and the public, deserve better.

Unfortunately, looking at the recent record of businesses around the United States, it is just such holes in information that have created a fertile environment for gross corporate abuse of investors. This abuse has even lead in some cases to corporate self-destruction. While we are not accusing GE of these abuses, it must be recognized that GE serves as an example to other companies, and helps to set the environment and tone of businesses worldwide. The importance, and magnitude, of the task should not be underestimated. Publicly held corporations must engage in an ongoing program to dramatically improve disclosure of, and accountability for, their activities.

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