Starwood 2006 Annual Report Download - page 53

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Mr. Siegel was formerly the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Gartner, Inc., a provider of research and
analysis on information technology industries, from January 2000 to November 2000. Prior to that time, he served
as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of IMS Health Incorporated, an information
services company, and its predecessors from February 1997 to December 1999. Prior to that time, Mr. Siegel was a
Partner in the law firm of Baker & Botts, LLP.
Javier Benito. Mr. Benito has been the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the
Corporation since April 2005. From November 2003 to March 2005, Mr. Benito was the U.S. Retail Division Pres-
ident and Chief Marketing Officer for Coca Cola North America. Mr. Benito joined Coke in 1994 and served in a
variety of global positions including Division Marketing Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Senior Vice
President of Marketing and Operations for Brazil and Division President of the Nordic and Baltic division.
Raymond L. Gellein Jr. Mr. Gellein has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Vacation
Ownership, Inc. (formerly Vistana, Inc.), our vacation ownership division, since 1980. He was appointed President
of the Real Estate Group in July of 2006.
Corporate Governance
The Company has an Audit Committee that is currently comprised of directors Thomas O. Ryder (chairman),
Daniel W. Yih, Kneeland C. Youngblood and Lizanne Galbreath. The Board of Directors has determined that each
member of the Audit Committee is “independent” as defined by applicable federal securities laws and the Listing
Requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. and that Messrs. Ryder and Yih are audit committee financial
experts, as defined by federal securities laws.
The Company has adopted a Finance Code of Ethics applicable to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial
Officer, Corporate Controller, Corporate Treasurer, Senior Vice President-Taxes and persons performing similar
functions. The text of this code of ethics may be found on the Company’s web site at http://starwoodhotels.com/
corporate/investor_relations.html. We intend to post amendments to and waivers from, the Finance Code of Ethics
that require disclosure under applicable SEC rules on our web site. You may obtain a free copy of this code in print
by writing to our Investor Relations Department, 1111 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, New York 10604.
The Company has adopted a Worldwide Code of Conduct applicable to all of its directors, officers and
employees. The text of this code of conduct may be found on the Company’s website at http://starwoodhotels.com/
corporate/investor_relations.html. You may also obtain a free copy of this code in print by writing to our Investor
Relations Department, 1111 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, New York 10604.
The Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines and the charters of its Audit Committee, Compensation and
Options Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee are also available on its website at
http://starwoodhotels.com/corporate/investor_relations.html.
The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We have submitted the CEO certification to the NYSE pursuant to NYSE Rule 303A.12(a) following the 2006
Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires that Directors, Trustees and
executive officers of the Company, and persons who own more than 10 percent of the outstanding Shares, file with
the SEC (and provide a copy to the Company) certain reports relating to their ownership of Shares and other equity
securities of the Company.
To the Company’s knowledge, based solely on a review of the copies of these reports furnished to the Company
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, and written representations that no other reports were required, all
Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to its Directors, Trustees, executive officers and greater than 10 percent
beneficial owners were complied with for the most recent fiscal year, except that (i) Mr. Heyer failed to timely file
one Form 4 with respect to two transactions, (ii) Mr. Gellein failed to timely file two Form 4s, one with respect to
two transactions and one with respect to one transaction and (iii) each of the non-employee directors (other than
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