Shareholder meeting
Siemens shareholders Muters against online general meeting
The board of directors of the technology group suffers a defeat at its general meeting. A minority of the shareholders enforced the return to presence meetings.
After successful resistance to a lucid number of shareholders, Siemens must again hold its annual general assembly in 2026 as a presence event and no longer just as a virtual meeting via online switching. In this year’s- virtual- shareholder meeting, almost 29 percent of the shareholders of the industrial and software group rejected the proposal of the group leadership to do without presentation events in the next two years, so that the necessary three-quarter majority did not come about. Siemens follows the example of the TUI tourism group, in which unruly shareholders had implemented a reintroduction of face -to -face events on Tuesday.
A good 71 percent voted for the Siemens leadership proposal, but 75 percent would have been required for the qualified majority. Siemens CEO Roland Busch and colleagues actually wanted to obtain the authorization from the shareholders after “positive experiences” to hold further virtual general meetings for two years.
The supervisory board chief Jim Hagemann Snabe re-elected by the shareholders for two years indicated that the Siemens chef days will put the topic back on the agenda in the future. “Even if the required three -quarters majority for the possibility of holding a virtual general meeting was not achieved today, we would like to continue the debate about format and functionality of the Annual General Meeting in Germany,” said the manager.
Many listed corporations have been holding virtual general meetings since the Corona pandemic, in which board members and supervisory boards do not have to face their shareholders face. The events are very expensive, and shareholders with spontaneous critical questions, lengthy speeches or interference can become uncomfortable. So previously angry small shareholders belonged to the general assembly folklore, sometimes the shareholders or human rights groups interrupted the shareholders.
Since Corona pandemic, there has been the legal option of virtually holding general meetings. Corporations argue with advantages for international investors, but some shareholder representatives see their rights restricted.
In addition to the board and supervisory board, the general meeting – HV – is the most important decision -making committee of a stock corporation. Once a year, shareholders have the opportunity to personally tell the management of their company. In addition, the Annual General Meeting makes important decisions: the shareholders have to relieve the board – usually a matter of form – and vote on the distribution of the dividend and the occupation of the supervisory board.
dpa
Source: Stern
