One side speaks of a necessary change that takes the digital age into account, the other side fears that CEOs want to get rid of annoying small shareholders. In essence, it is about the modernization of general meetings (AGM) of listed companies in Austria. There is agreement on that. There is a lot of lobbying about what the solution should look like.
During the pandemic, general meetings could be held virtually. This led to the event, which sometimes lasted a whole day, being shortened. The shareholders’ requests to speak were presented and the (prepared) answers were read out.
Supervisory boards and executive boards, especially of large listed companies, have taken a liking to it. You save yourself the rental of large halls and the buffet as a dividend in kind for the shareholders, you are happy to pay the 10,000 euros expensive, double-secured Internet line. Even long journeys – and thus CO2 – can be saved.
“We are in favor of freedom of choice. Depending on whether its shareholders are international or a people’s share, the general meeting would vote for a virtual or a personal one,” says Harald Hagenauer, President of Cira, the association of investor advisors in the domestic markets listed companies. A 75 percent majority should be necessary.
The IVA – the interest group of investors – fears that most of the major core shareholders will vote for the virtual AGM and that small shareholders will be slowed down. Florian Beckermann from the IVA brings up another argument: the participation rate for transferred AGMs is falling rapidly. The only positive from the Corona period from the point of view of small investors is the offer of a proxy to whom you can transfer your vote if you cannot be there yourself.
FACC-HV could be sued
Due to the pandemic, the companies are still allowed to hold their general meetings virtually until June 30th. Those of Amag and Lenzing AG will take place in April and again virtually. But not all of them are currently online: Raiffeisen International personally received its shareholders in Vienna on March 31 and broadcast it on the Internet. Many companies want to avoid this most expensive variant.
The example of FACC shows how complicated the situation is: Their AGM is on May 31st. When asked by OÖN, it was confirmed that this year this will again take place virtually.
This annoys Rupert-Heinrich Staller, who is involved there with his company Staller Investments and who is an advocate of personal general meetings: “It would be simply negligent if the board of directors convened a virtual general meeting for the end of May without evidence of a pandemic situation and thus a challenge at the Annual General Meeting. It would also be an affront to the long-suffering FACC shareholders who are looking forward to a physical AGM after a difficult time for their company.”
Source: Nachrichten
