Asks Boards to Act in Accordance with BlackRock’s Publicly Stated Corporate Governance Principles and Fiduciary Duties
Shareholders Voted Overwhelmingly in Favor of Saba’s Proposals at the Funds’ 2019 Annual Meetings
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saba Capital Management, L.P. and certain associated parties (collectively “Saba”) today issued the following open letter to the Boards of Trustees of BlackRock Muni New York Intermediate Duration Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MNE), BlackRock New York Municipal Bond Trust (NYSE: BQH) and BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust (NYSE: BTZ).
December 3, 2019
Boards of Trustees of
BlackRock Muni New York Intermediate Duration Fund, Inc.
BlackRock New York Municipal Bond Trust
BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust
To the Members of the Boards of Trustees:
Months have passed since the annual meetings of BlackRock Muni New York Intermediate Duration Fund, Inc. (MNE), BlackRock New York Municipal Bond Trust (BQH) and BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust (BTZ). At these annual meetings, shareholders passed the proposals submitted by Saba Capital by a tremendous margin.
It is telling that all three proposals would have passed even without the votes of the shares held by Saba Capital. Further, declassification of the Funds’ Boards was supported by both ISS and Glass Lewis, and is consistent with BlackRock’s publicly stated corporate governance principles.
|
2019 Annual Meeting Results: |
|||
|
Fund |
For |
Against |
Abstain |
|
MNE (tender for 100% of shares) |
1,434,666 |
678,816 |
31,217 |
|
BQH (declassify) |
788,931 |
503,855 |
46,434 |
|
BTZ (declassify) |
37,911,873 |
23,795,534 |
777,873 |
Notwithstanding BlackRock’s strong public support for shareholder franchise rights, BlackRock’s investment entities acted expeditiously to weaken the rights of shareholders of BlackRock’s investment vehicles. In 2016, just six weeks after Saba announced a desire for changes in the BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund (NYSE: DSU), BlackRock orchestrated the unilateral enactment of bylaw amendments to entrench management of DSU and thirteen other BlackRock closed-end funds.
Unfortunately, when it comes to restoring the rights of shareholders that BlackRock has diminished, you have instead squandered shareholder monies through the appeal and litigation over the validity of Saba’s nominees.
Defying BlackRock – the largest asset manager on earth – must be difficult for you. After all, despite your flourishing and busy careers, you have been paid a small fortune to sit on eighty-eight BlackRock fund boards simultaneously. Still, your fiduciary duty remains squarely to the shareholders of those funds and to implement the measures for which they have voted overwhelmingly.
Sincerely,
Saba Capital
cc: Richard E. Cavanagh, Karen P. Robards, Michael J. Castellano, Cynthia L. Egan, Frank J. Fabozzi, Henry Gabbay, R. Glenn Hubbard, W. Carl Kester, Catherine A. Lynch, Robert Fairbairn, John M. Perlowski
Contacts
Investors
Leah Jordan
Investor Relations
[email protected]
