Locomotive, "Successful Completion of Voting Rights Collection at March Super General Meeting"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Locomotive, a company specializing in proxy voting collection, announced on the 1st that despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it successfully completed proxy voting collection tasks during this year's shareholder meeting season.

A representative from Locomotive stated, "We secured more than 100% of the required quorum for shareholder meetings of the listed companies we represented, easing the burden of passing agenda items," and added, "We conducted systematic proxy voting collection operations and concluded successful shareholder meetings."

This year marked the third year since the abolition of shadow voting, and as expected, many companies failed to appoint auditors due to a lack of quorum. Locomotive noted that the combination of the '3% rule' restrictions and the impact of COVID-19 made securing voting rights more challenging this season, but on the contrary, shareholder visitation rates increased due to COVID-19.

The company explained, "Some listed companies hired agencies to secure the lacking voting rights, but some companies gave up on appointing auditors from the outset."

During this shareholder meeting season, Locomotive handled proxy voting collection for five listed companies. The total number of shareholders was 102,871, with regional shareholder distribution approximately 60% in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon), about 14% in the Gyeongnam area (including Busan and Ulsan), 9% in the Gyeongbuk area (including Daegu), followed by the Chungcheong and Honam regions.

The company visited a total of 6,904 shareholders during this year's proxy voting collection operations. The visitation statistics were recorded as 42.5% absent, 35% voting rights secured, 12.8% refusal, and 9.9% other. Due to COVID-19, the refusal rate in the Daegu area of Daegu-Gyeongbuk was about 6% higher than average, making collection operations somewhat more difficult compared to usual years.

Lee Tae-sung, CEO of Locomotive, said, "The March super shareholder meeting season is a major period when listed companies' shareholder meeting schedules converge, and key agenda items such as auditor appointments are processed, making proxy voting collection work even more important," adding, "Locomotive successfully completed the super shareholder meeting season through specialized strategies and professional personnel."

He continued, "The proxy voting collection market is entering a mature stage, and although some costs are incurred, we believe we can assist companies facing difficulties with auditor appointments, special resolutions, and management disputes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.