Banks and insurers secure approval for virtual AGMs, raising participation concerns
BNN Bloomberg
Canada's big banks and insurers said Monday they have secured approval to host virtual annual meetings again next year, raising concerns about how those meetings may be run.
TORONTO - Canada's big banks and insurers said Monday they have secured approval to host virtual annual meetings again next year, raising concerns about how those meetings may be run.
Organizations like the Shareholder Association for Research & Education say that while the format could improve participation, too often that hasn't happened as companies limit or screen questions, or not allow them at all.
“Some have used this virtual format as a way to limit participation, rather than to expand it,'' said Kevin Thomas, chief executive of the association.
He said that while the financial industry hasn't done a terrible job, there's ample opportunities to improve shareholder participation.
Annual meetings should allow shareholders to not only communicate with the board, but with each other by hearing the questions being asked, said Thomas.
RBC's Global Wealth Management team itself raised concerns in 2020 about the rise of virtual-only AGMs, noting in a report on the trend that questions were being vetted ahead of time by some companies, and that the lack of real-time voting limited shareholders' ability to respond to issues raised at meetings.
