Caterpillar 2022 annual meeting is June 8, 2022, at 6 AM Pacific. It is a virtual-only meeting on the Compushare platform. Entry requires retail shareholders to obtain a legal proxy — a real hassle. Of course, I recommend voting in advance, especially since many companies cut off voting as soon as proposals have been presented. To enhance corporate […]
In-Person-Only AGM constitutes a reckless disregard of covid risk, notes shareholder advocate John Chevedden, regarding Dover Corporation‘s (DOV) decision. U.S. health experts are warning an emerging, highly contagious Covid omicron variant, called BA.2, could soon lead to another uptick in domestic coronavirus cases. Corporate governance continues to evolve. In a letter to the SEC, Mr. Chevedden […]
Virtual Shareholder Meetings 2021. The Report of the 2020 Multi-Stakeholder Working Group on Practices for Virtual Shareholder Meetings came out about a month ago. I (James McRitchie) was happy to participate in the group, which did a good job of considering diverse views. Kudos to Amy Borrus, Darla Stuckey, and Doug Chia. My major contribution ensured […]
Chat Rooms are the key missing ingredient at virtual shareholder meetings. Virtual-only shareholder meetings increased dramatically (from 286 in 2019 to 2,200 so far in 2020) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chat rooms before and after meetings would allow shareholders to interact informally with each other and with corporate representatives, as they do at in-person […]
SEC Staff COVID-19 Guidance was announced, probably at least in part, driven by a Rule14a-8 Coronavirus Letter Marh 11 pdf from the ICCR, US SIF and the Shareholder Rights Group. Guidance discusses virtual meetings, updating the time, date or location of a stockholder meeting and eliminates the federal securities law requirement that such change require […]
Glass Lewis 2019 proxy advice updates address many issues. See 2019 Proxy Paper Guidelines: An Overview of the Glass Lewis Approach to Proxy Advice. I have reproduced much of the summary of changes below, leaving off the section discussing clarifying amendments. One that stands out for our small group of so-called ‘gadflies’ addresses our concern […]
The first part of an in-depth look at Virtual-Only Shareholder Meetings, a new front in corporate-investor engagement. Scenario 1: In-Person Shareholder Meeting A shareholder proposal calling for the chairman’s resignation is coming up for vote at the physical annual meeting of Acme Inc. In the packed hall, a supporter of the proposal rises to her […]
Conoco’s virtual only annual meeting is the target of a shareholder proposal by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. A similar proposal was filed at Comcast. The Conoco resolution has already been cofiled by the Church of the Brethren Benefit Trust and the Needmor Fund, a Walden client. As responsible shareholders, we believe good corporate governance […]
Virtual meetings are quickly being adopted by entrenched boards who fear any attempt by shareholders, especially retail shareholders, to hold them accountable. Annual meetings are the only place shareholders are likely to meet with the managers and boards of the companies they invest in, as well as with employees of those companies and with other […]
Glyn Holton, the executive director of USPX, once again expresses his concerns over efforts by Broadridge Financial Solutions to make virtual meetings palatable to shareowners. I urge you to (more…)
As reported earlier (See Protesting Symantec’s All-Virtual Annual Meeting, 22 Sep, 2010) Symantec Corporation set the pathetic precedent of being the first Fortune 500 company to hold a virtual-only annual meeting without shareowner-approved safeguards to protect participant rights. That happened September 20, 2010. But two weeks later, Symantec has backed down. Responding to a letter writing […]
At last, there have been a couple of articles in the national press on the Symantec Corp. virtual-only meeting. First, Ross Kerber reported for Reuters, Shareholder meetings via Web mute dissident voices (9/24/2010) Kerber observed, Soon movies might be the only place to hear pointed outbursts from investors. This year more than a dozen companies […]