Co-operative Bank’s chief executive Gideon Muriuki. FILE PHOTO | NMG
SUMMARY
Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms could soon hold hybrid annual general meetings (AGM), allowing streaming of the proceedings online with some shareholders also attending in person.
Listed companies and other issuers of securities to the public have been organising virtual stakeholder meetings since last year after the government banned public gatherings to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) is now considering authorising companies to hold hybrid meetings as Covid-19 vaccinations pick up.
“The Capital Markets Authority is already working on the modalities and guidelines of having hybrid AGMs,” Co-op Bank’s chief executive Gideon Muriuki told shareholders at the firm’s virtual shareholder meeting last week.
“We are also looking forward to an opportunity where we can have a hybrid AGM where some shareholders can attend in person and others follow on livestream. CMA is expected to give further guidance on this matter in the days and months to come.”
He was responding to a question from a shareholder who asked about the possibility of having hybrid AGMs.
In-person shareholder meetings are popular among retail investors who typically get to interact with senior management and the board of directors once a year.
Large institutional investors have more opportunities to engage the companies they invest in, including through investor briefings, roadshows and earnings conference calls.
The CMA has asked companies to make sure the virtual meetings are as informative as the now-suspended in-person gatherings.
Listed firms, for instance, are required to field questions received from shareholders through various means including email and live calls.
The virtual meetings, which were not provided for in the articles of association of most public companies, were allowed by the High Court last year and also got the backing of the markets regulator.
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