Companies move shareholder meetings online amid shutdown

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In an initial for Bangladesh, listed companies are employing virtual platforms to hold annual general meetings within their business continuity plans while avoiding mass gatherings and keep maintaining social distancing when confronted with coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The proceed to virtual platforms employs the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on March 24 temporarily relaxed rules on holding AGM or extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and board meetings on digital platforms to contain the spread of the deadly bug.

The firms whose record dates were after March 25 should be able to hold their AGM online, said a high official of the commission. The record date may be the cut-off date established by a company to determine which shareholders meet the criteria for a dividend.

GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh was the first ever to conduct the virtual AGM on April 16, and five days later, Grameenphone, the top-listed company, followed suit. British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATBC) can do the same today and Singer Bangladesh on May 15.

The commission issued the guideline carrying out a proposal from BATBC, said Md Azizur Rahman, company secretary of the firm.

This will ultimately be beneficial to the shareholders as they will get 400 % cash dividend following the meeting, he said.

"To us, the most important thing is that if the AGM can be held, shareholders are certain to get some cash. This will be ideal for them amid the lockdown and can also be beneficial to the economy," Rahman told The Daily Star.

BATBC has about 19,000 shareholders and the company has shared the password with them to allow them to sign on the AGM platform the company's own IT team is rolling out.

"This is the real digitalisation as persons don't need to move to take part in any programme like AGM."

The process is also easy to talk to the shareholders, who will get an gross annual report through a web link within a move that will cut paper use.

Concurrently, unwanted incidents could be avoided, Rahman added.

BATBC has incorporated the voting system and the shareholders are certain to get the possibility to share opinions and make recommendations. A number of the directors of the company are now out from the country and they'll be a part of the AGM virtually.

The same happened at the AGM of Grameenphone. A number of the board members attended the meeting from Thailand and Norway. Included in this were Grameenphone Chairman Petter B Furberg and CEO Yasir Azman.

Grameenphone moved this year's AGM to the digital platform in compliance with the directives of the BSEC and taking into consideration the health and safety of all the shareholders, staff and others, the operator said. 

Grameenphone has designed and developed the digital platform to perform the 23rd AGM of the business online to supply continuous and meaningful shareholder engagement and participation, it said in a news release.

At the AGM, shareholders approved a 40 % cash dividend. Grameenphone has 32,000 shareholders and all of them got the password to attend the meeting and a good number of them attended.

GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh organised the event at Radisson Blu Chattogram Bay View hotel where shareholders approved a 530 per cent cash dividend for the year that ended on December 31, 2019.

Singer's AGM will be held online from Spectra Convention Centre and the board has recommended a 77 per cent cash dividend for this past year.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

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