Vodafone proxy shareholders rejected a call to spin off its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless. More than 93 percent of proxy shareholders voted down proposals put forward by activist investor Efficient Capital Structures, which called for Vodafone to release $78 billion to investors by spinning off its Verizon Wireless stake and issuing new bonds.

Vodafone Chairman John Bond said that the board noted the strength of the vote against the spin off and acknowledged that concerns driving the call for a spin off were important. "I don't think we can have a rethink, we're thinking about it all the time," he said of the carrier's U.S. strategy.

For more on Voda's vote:
- read this MarketWatch article