| Are you too busy to attend a shareholder’s meeting? If your answer is “yes”, perhaps it is time for you to consider appointing a proxy.
As a shareholder of a company, you must view a company’s meetings, such as the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), seriously. These meetings provide an opportunity for you to obtain information and question the board of directors and senior management about the company’s past performance and future plans, and to hold them accountable for their decisions. As a responsible shareholder of a company, you should actively exercise your rights at shareholder’s meetings. This would enhance the level of corporate governance within your company as it would encourage transparency, strengthen integrity and above all, promote accountability among the members of the board and management.
However, the most important aspect of the meeting is the voting right held by shareholders. These voting rights could influence major decisions pertaining to the governance and operations of a company, and if used wisely and collectively among the shareholders, could defeat any motions which are not in the best interest of the shareholders. Shareholders will lose the privilege of utilising these voting rights if they do not attend the shareholders’ meetings.
What is a proxy?
In the event that you are unable to attend an AGM, you can still make your presence felt by appointing a proxy to attend and vote on your behalf. A proxy is a person you appoint as your representative in your company’s shareholders’ meeting. The reasons for appointing a proxy are to ensure that–
1. you can still air your views and grievances without being present;
2. your rights as a shareholder will still be exercised; and
3. you will be kept informed of the issues arising from the meeting.
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