This Year's Annual General Meeting, COVID-19 Capacity Restrictions 'Exception'... Electronic Voting Fee Waived

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] This year’s regular shareholders’ meetings held by companies will not apply personnel restrictions for COVID-19 prevention.

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced on the 21st that they have prepared support measures in consultation with related agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, to ensure that shareholders’ meetings can be held safely and smoothly.

Regular shareholders’ meetings are held once a year according to the Commercial Act, usually in March based on the company’s articles of incorporation, and on-site meetings are unavoidable. If a regular shareholders’ meeting is not held, financial statements cannot be finalized, dividends cannot be paid, and the appointment of executives such as directors or auditors cannot be made, causing disruptions to corporate management.

Accordingly, financial authorities plan to grant exceptions to the restrictions on gatherings and events for COVID-19 prevention for regular shareholders’ meetings that comply with quarantine measures. Currently, in the metropolitan area under infectious disease prevention level 2.5, gatherings of 50 or more people are prohibited, and in other regions, gatherings of 100 or more people are restricted.

However, to minimize attendance at shareholders’ meetings, the use of electronic voting is essential, so companies will be exempted from fees for electronic voting and electronic proxy services during the regular shareholders’ meeting period.

From convening the shareholders’ meeting to preparing the meeting venue and on the day of the meeting, a checklist of step-by-step inspection items, including restrictions on entry for COVID-19 symptomatic individuals, will be created and distributed.

In cases where the submission of business reports has been delayed due to delays in settlement or external audits caused by COVID-19, administrative sanctions such as fines will be waived. For listed companies, market measures by the stock exchange due to delayed submission of business reports will also be deferred.

Additionally, if external audits are delayed and documents such as business reports are not made available one week before the regular shareholders’ meeting, companies will be exempt from fines.

Furthermore, March 26th, as well as the 30th and 31st of the same month, have been designated as expected peak days for regular shareholders’ meetings, and companies holding meetings on dates avoiding these days will receive incentives such as reduced penalty points for inadequate disclosures.

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