Edgar Filing: TEMPLETON DRAGON FUND INC

tdf2013proxystatement_final.htm - Generated by SEC Publisher for SEC Filing

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and expects to continue to be able to identify, from its own resources an ample number of qualified candidates. The Nominating Committee, however, will review recommendations from Qualifying Fund Shareholders to fill vacancies on the Board if these recommendations are submitted in writing and addressed to the Nominating Committee at the Fund’s offices and are presented with appropriate background material concerning the candidate that demonstrates his or her ability to serve as a Director, including as an Independent Director, of the Fund. A Qualifying Fund Shareholder is a shareholder who (i) has continuously owned of record, or beneficially through a financial intermediary, shares of the Fund having a net asset value of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) during the twenty-four month period prior to submitting the recommendation; and (ii) provides a written notice to the Nominating Committee containing the following information: (a) the name and address of the Qualifying Fund Shareholder making the recommendation; (b) the number of shares of the Fund which are owned of record and beneficially by the Qualifying Fund Shareholder and the length of time that the shares have been owned by the Qualifying Fund Shareholder; (c) a description of all arrangements and understandings between the Qualifying Fund Shareholder and any other person or persons (naming such person or persons) pursuant to which the recommendation is being made; (d) the name, age, date of birth, business address and residence address of the person or persons being recommended; (e) such other information regarding each person recommended by the Qualifying Fund Shareholder as would be required to be included in a proxy statement filed pursuant to the proxy rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) had the nominee been nominated by the Board; (f) whether the shareholder making the recommendation believes the person recommended would or would not be an “interested person” of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act; and (g) the written consent of each person recommended to serve as a Director of the Fund if so nominated and elected/appointed.

The Nominating Committee may amend these procedures from time to time, including the procedures relating to the evaluation of nominees and the process for submitting recommendations to the Nominating Committee.

The Board has adopted and approved a formal written charter for the Nominating Committee. A copy of the charter was included in the Fund’s proxy statement for its 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

Who are the nominees and Directors?

The Board is divided into three classes. Each class has a term of three years. Each year, the term of office of one class expires. This year, the terms of four Directors expire: Edith E. Holiday, Larry D. Thompson, Charles B. Johnson and Gregory E. Johnson. Four individuals have been nominated for three-year terms, set to expire at the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. These terms continue, however, until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The nominees are: Edith E. Holiday, Larry D. Thompson, Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. and Gregory E. Johnson. All of the nominees are currently members of the Board with the exception of Rupert H. Johnson, Jr., who is standing for election by shareholders of the Fund for the first time. Among these nominees, Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. and Gregory E. Johnson are deemed to be Interested Directors. The remaining nominees are deemed to be Independent Directors. In addition, all of the current nominees and Directors are also directors or trustees of other investment companies within the Franklin Templeton Investments fund complex.

Interested Directors of the Fund hold director and/or officer positions with Franklin Resources, Inc. (“Resources”) and its affiliates. Resources is a publicly owned company, the principal stockholders of which are Charles B. Johnson and Rupert H. Johnson, Jr., who beneficially owned approximately 17.10% and 16.91%, respectively, of its outstanding shares as of December 31, 2012. The shares deemed to be beneficially owned by

Charles B. Johnson include certain shares held by two private charitable foundations, of which he disclaims beneficial ownership. The shares deemed to be beneficially owned by Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. include certain shares held by a private charitable foundation or by his spouse, of which he disclaims beneficial ownership. Resources, a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments, is primarily, engaged through various subsidiaries, in providing investment management, share distribution, transfer agent and administrative services to a family of investment companies. Resources is a New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) listed holding company (NYSE: BEN). Charles B. Johnson, currently Director and Vice President of the Fund, and Gregory E. Johnson, Director of the Fund, are father and son. Rupert H. Johnson, Jr., nominee for Director and also currently Vice President of the Fund, is the brother of Charles B. Johnson and the uncle of Gregory E. Johnson. There are no other family relationships among the Directors or nominees for Director.

Each nominee currently is available and has consented to serve if elected. If any of the nominees should become unavailable, the designated proxy holders will vote in their discretion for another person or persons who may be nominated to serve as Directors.

In addition to personal qualities, such as integrity, in considering candidates for the Fund Board, the Nominating Committee seeks to find persons of good reputation whose experience and background evidence that such person has the ability to comprehend, discuss and critically analyze materials and issues presented, in exercising judgments and reaching informed conclusions relevant to fulfillment of a Fund Director’s duties and fiduciary obligations. Information on the business activities of the nominees and other Directors during the past five years and beyond appears below and it is believed that the specific background of each Director evidences such ability and is appropriate to his or her serving on the Fund’s Board. As indicated, Harris J. Ashton and Frank A. Olson have both served as chief executive officers of NYSE listed public corporations; Larry D. Thompson and Edith E. Holiday each have legal backgrounds, including high level legal positions with departments of the U.S. Government; David W. Niemiec and Ann Torre Bates each have been chief financial officers of major corporations; J. Michael Luttig has fifteen years of judicial experience as a Federal Appeals Court Judge; Robert E. Wade has over thirty years of experience as a practicing attorney; Constantine D. Tseretopoulos has professional and executive experience as founder and Chief of Staff of a hospital; Frank J. Crothers has served as the chief executive officer of several foreign closely held corporations; and Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. and Gregory E. Johnson are both high ranking executive officers of Resources.

Listed below with the business activities of the nominees and Directors are their names and years of birth, their positions and length of service with the Fund and the number of portfolios in the Franklin Templeton Investments fund complex that they oversee.

In addition, the Audit Committee pre-approves PwC’s engagement for audit-related services to be provided to the Investment Manager and certain entities controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Investment Manager that provide ongoing services to the Fund, which engagements relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Fund. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2011, there were no fees paid to PwC for such services.

Tax Fees. There were no fees paid to PwC for professional services rendered by PwC to the Fund for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2011.

In addition, the Audit Committee pre-approves PwC’s engagement for tax services to be provided to the Investment Manager and certain entities controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Investment Manager that provide ongoing services to the Fund, which engagements relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Fund. The fees for these services were $4,600 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and $100,000 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The services for which these fees were paid included technical tax consultation for capital gain tax reporting to foreign governments and the application of local country tax laws to investments and licensing securities with local country offices.

All Other Fees. The aggregate fees paid for products and services provided by PwC to the Fund, other than the services reported above, were $414 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 and $0 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The services for which these fees were paid included review of materials provided to the Board in connection with the investment management contract renewal process.

In addition, the Audit Committee pre-approves PwC’s engagement for other services to be provided to the Investment Manager and certain entities controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Investment Manager that provide ongoing services to the Fund, which engagements relate directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Fund. The fees for these services were $152,036 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and $0 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The services for which these fees were paid included review of materials provided to the Board in connection with the investment management contract renewal process.

Aggregate Non-Audit Fees. The aggregate fees paid to PwC for non-audit services provided by PwC to the Fund, to the Investment Manager or to any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Investment Manager that provides ongoing services to the Fund were $163,602 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, and $106,552 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. The aggregate non-audit fees for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, include the amounts shown under Audit-Related Fees ($6,552); Tax Fees (including services provided to the Investment Manager and its control entities ($4,600)) and All Other Fees ($414) (including services provided to the Investment Manager and its control entities ($152,036)).

The Audit Committee has determined that the provision of the non-audit services that were rendered to the Investment Manager and to any entities controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Investment Manager that provide ongoing services to the Fund is compatible with maintaining PwC’s independence.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures. As of the date of this proxy statement, the Audit Committee has not adopted written pre-approval policies and procedures. As a result, all such services described above and provided by PwC must be directly pre-approved by the Audit Committee.

Solicitation of Proxies. Your vote is being solicited by the Directors. The cost of soliciting proxies, including the fees of a proxy soliciting agent, is borne by the Fund. The Fund reimburses brokerage firms and others for their reasonable expenses in forwarding proxy material to the beneficial owners and soliciting them to execute proxies. In addition, the Fund may retain a professional proxy solicitation firm to assist with any necessary solicitation of proxies. The Fund expects that the solicitation would be primarily by mail, but also may include telephone, facsimile, electronic or other means of communication. If the Fund does not receive your proxy by a certain time, you may receive a telephone call from a proxy soliciting agent asking you to vote. If professional proxy solicitors are retained, it is expected that soliciting fees would be approximately $5,000, plus expenses. The Fund does not reimburse Directors and officers of the Fund, or regular employees and agents of the Investment Manager involved in the solicitation of proxies. The Fund intends to pay all costs associated with the solicitation and the Meeting.

Voting by Broker-Dealers. The Fund expects that, before the Meeting, broker-dealer firms holding shares of the Fund in “street name” for their customers will request voting instructions from their customers and beneficial owners. If these instructions are not received by the date specified in the broker-dealer firms’ proxy solicitation materials, the Fund understands that current NYSE Rules permit the broker-dealers to vote on the Proposals on behalf of their customers and beneficial owners. Certain broker-dealers may exercise discretion over shares held in their name for which no instructions are received by voting these shares in the same proportion as they vote shares for which they received instructions.

Quorum. A majority of the Fund’s shares entitled to vote at the Meeting—present in person or represented by proxy—constitutes a quorum at the Meeting. The shares over which broker-dealers have discretionary voting power, the shares that represent “broker non-votes” (i.e., shares held by brokers or nominees as to which (i) instructions have not been received from the beneficial owners or persons entitled to vote and (ii) the broker or nominee does not have discretionary voting power on a particular matter), and the shares whose proxies reflect an abstention on any item will all be counted as shares present and entitled to vote at the Meeting for purposes of determining whether the required quorum of shares exists.

Method of Tabulation. Provided a quorum is present or represented at the Meeting, Proposal 1, the election of Directors, requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a plurality of the Fund’s shares present (in person or represented by proxy) and voting on the proposal at the Meeting. Proposal 2, ratification of the selection of the independent registered public accounting firm, requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast. Abstentions and broker non–votes will be treated as votes present at the Meeting, but will not be treated as votes cast and, therefore, will not be counted for purposes of obtaining approval of either proposal.

Adjournment. The holders of a majority of shares entitled to vote at the Meeting and present in person or by proxy, whether or not sufficient to constitute a quorum, or any officer present entitled to preside or act as Secretary of the Meeting may adjourn the Meeting. Such authority to adjourn the Meeting may be used in the event that a quorum is not present at the Meeting or in the event that a quorum is present but sufficient votes have not been received to approve the Proposals or to permit further solicitation of proxies or for any other reason consistent with Maryland law and the Fund’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. Unless otherwise instructed by a shareholder granting a proxy, the persons designated as proxies may use their discretionary authority to vote as instructed by management of the Fund on questions of adjournment and on any other proposals raised at the Meeting to the extent permitted by the SEC’s proxy rules, including proposals for which management of the Fund did not have timely notice, as set forth in the SEC’s proxy rules and the Fund’s proxy statement for the 2012 annual meeting.

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TLTDF PROXY 04/13