ACGA submission to Taiwan FSC on Virtual AGM
2023-02-17
On 17 February 2023, ACGA submitted its response letter to Taiwan’s Proposal to Amend Article 44-9 and Article 44-21 of "Regulations Governing the Administration of Shareholder Services of Public Companies”. In our letter we expressed concerns that the existing rules and current technical infrastructure limitations create unnecessary loopholes, as well as the conditions for unequal treatment among various types of shareholders and attendees, at a particular disadvantage to foreign shareholders. While we appreciate regulator efforts to find solutions, the proposed amendments do not yet resolve the issues.
Additional concerns highlighted in our letter:
Availability of English – The rules limit questions to 200 characters which is not enough to form coherent questions in English. The virtual platform interface is not fully available in English.
Two-way communication – The current virtual meeting platform gives the issuer the power to screen questions and there is not yet a clear mechanism for full verbal interaction between virtual attendees and the board and management.
Meeting continuity – Hybrid meetings disrupted due to “unforeseen events” continue if quorum requirements are met without virtual attendees. In such cases, virtual attendee voting rights are waived on "all proposals" at the meeting.