Aberdeen Chile Fund, Inc., Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund, Inc., Aberdeen Israel Fund, Inc., Ab...

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Chile Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: CH),  Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ABE), Aberdeen Israel Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ISL), Aberdeen Indonesia Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IF) and Aberdeen Latin America Equity Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT: LAQ) (each, a "Fund" and collectively, the "Funds"), each a closed-end fund, today announced that each Fund's Board of Directors has approved enhancements to its corporate governance to align with best practices for Board election and ongoing service.  Specifically, the Boards each approved an amendment to the Funds' By-Laws, to become effective on September 30, 2015, to provide for the election of the directors by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting of shareholders at which a quorum is present, except in contested elections, where a director shall be elected by a plurality vote. The Funds' By-laws previously provided that directors be elected by a plurality vote in all director elections.  

At the same time, each Fund's Board of Directors also adopted certain corporate governance guidelines for the Fund to become effective on September 30, 2015.  The governance guidelines include (i) a resignation policy, which generally provides that a director who does not receive a majority of votes "For" his or her election at a meeting of shareholders shall be deemed to have tendered his or her resignation, subject to a Board's acceptance or rejection of such resignation, which Board determination will be disclosed publicly to Fund shareholders; and (ii) a policy requiring that after an Independent Director has served on the Board for three full terms of three years following the later of (x) engagement of the existing investment manager of the Fund or (y) the director's election to the Board, the Director will be put forth for consideration by shareholders annually. The failure to obtain a majority of votes cast will trigger the resignation policy described above.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the Fund. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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SOURCE Aberdeen Chile Fund, Inc.; Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund, Inc.; Aberdeen Israel Fund, Inc.; Aberdeen Indonesia Fund, Inc.; Aberdeen Latin America Equity Fund, Inc.

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