As one of the biggest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, listed companies have been forced to conduct shareholder and general meetings virtually. Despite the benefits of online AGMs, several leaders, investors, and shareholders have expressed a preference for the hybrid approach. Companies, though, must consider shareholder participation and company resources to decide on what mode to adopt for their AGMs.

For the time being, the Singapore Exchange Regulation Corporation (SGX RegCo) does not require listed companies to conduct AGMs in a particular format — they can deliberately hold meetings physically, virtually, or in a hybrid format. However, a few requirements must be done to ensure the full engagement of shareholders.

In a recent hybrid seminar last August 29, Michael Tang, Vice President and Head of the Listing Policy and Product Admission of SGX, reinstated that companies must provide real-time electronic voting and real-time electronic communication for shareholders, regardless of the meeting format.

The event was organized by the Chartered Secretaries Institute of Singapore (CSIS) and was chaired by Raymond Lam, Chairperson of CSIS. Esteemed panellists were invited to the discussion, including Teo La-Mei, Group Legal Counsel & Company Secretary of Wilmar International Ltd, Yap Jia Rern, Head of ConveneAGM at Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd, and Ang Hao Yao, Private Investor and Honorary Secretary of Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS).

Lam emphasised that listed companies must be able to decide on what format their shareholder’s meetings would be, based on their needs and the shareholder feedback. Teo has a similar perspective and believes that adopting hybrid meetings can broaden the interaction with shareholders.

However, she also stressed that hybrid shareholder meetings might not be the one-size-fits-all format for companies. While shareholder engagement is a factor, the company’s own resources must also be considered. “Fortunately, we host meetings in our own building and have our own IT support. We don’t need to use external suppliers, so we save a lot of money.”

This year, Yap mentioned that several listed companies have adopted hybrid general meetings, including Wilmar International, ComfortDelGro, SBS Transit, iFAST, and Centurion Corp. ConveneAGM, Azeus’s virtual AGM solution, has supported 150 virtual general meetings for listed companies. Over thirty of these meetings have been keen on the live Q&A and live voting features — real-time electronic features for shareholder participation that comply with the latest SGX regulations.

Read more about what experts think about shareholder participation in AGMs in this article by Lianhe Zaobao.