LAST week, a PLC (public listed company) involved in the pilling and foundation businesses had its physical AGM (annual general meeting). Given our preference for physical meetings, I jumped at the chance to attend it.
The registration counters were opened at 8.30am. Shareholders and proxies were advised to register at 8.30am or as early as possible as seats were limited to 50 on a first-come-first-serve basis.
This would mean some shareholders would be turned away should the attendance exceed 50. There would be a corporate governance issue if attending shareholders were turned away due to lack of seating. Only about 15 to 20 shareholders attended the AGM and as such nobody was turned away.
PLCs would have some idea of past attendances at their physical AGM and this should serve as a guide when arranging seating capacity. PLCs are advised to err on the side of caution and have provisions for additional capacity.
I was at the meeting venue by 8.30am and duly registered for the meeting. As per the notice of the AGM, on the spot COVID-19 tests were carried out on all attendees using a nasal swab courtesy of the company. I waited for the AGM to begin at 10am … and it did.
There was no mingling of directors with shareholders and understandably so. To a question on the lack of any form of refreshments, the chairman informed that there would be no refreshments as that would increase the risk of COVID-19 if people removed their masks for refreshments and this – again – was understandably so.
All directors attended the AGM with two of them attended virtually. This is commendable as MSWG (Minority Shareholders Watch Group) expects all directors to attend AGMs so that questions may also be addressed to them individually in their capacity as chairman or members of the board and the various board sub committees.
The chairman also informed that there will be no slide presentation as he wanted to keep the meeting short though in the past years, they had had slide presentations.
Nevertheless, I commented that it would be good if there is a presentation on the current challenges, prospects and outlook as the financial statements and annual report are historic and a few months old.
Given that the slide presentation is within the control of the PLC, they can opt for a short presentation if they so desire. The AGM is a once-in-a-year opportunity for shareholders to learn more about the PLC.
One independent director had served more than 12 years but there was no two-tier voting for his re-election as the company opined that the said independent director has consistently performed to the best interest of the group and that he continues to act with unfettered impartiality despite his relatively long tenure.
Going forward, this may be a thing of the past as Bursa Malaysia is expected to amend the Listing Requirements to make two-tier voting mandatory for independent directors beyond nine years along with an absolute prohibition for tenures beyond 12 years.
Overall, it was a well-conducted physical AGM amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Devanesan Evanson is CEO of the Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
