Moscow Exchange has used the E-voting system at its annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM). The system has been developed by National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia’s central securities depository.
E-voting was available for use from 5 April 2019 to 22 April 2019, and also on the day of the AGM – 25 April 2019.
The share of Moscow Exchange shareholders who attended the AGM and voted electronically (via the E-voting and the E-proxy-voting systems) increased from 76.9% in 2018 to 86.6% in 2019.
55.9% of the shareholders who participated in the AGM voted using NSD’s E-voting service (compared with 20% in 2018). The number of shareholders who used the E-Voting service grew more than six-fold: in total, 497 shareholders voted on 538 accounts (82 shareholders voted on 92 accounts in 2018). 273 shareholders voted on 291 accounts using the E-proxy-voting service (234 shareholders voted on 245 accounts in 2018).
“We have seen a significant growth in the number of the service users, and, in general, we noted the positive effect of E-voting on the presence of the shareholders at the AGM. The number of shareholders who participated in the meeting doubled as compared with the previous year, mainly due to the use of our platform,” said Denis Buryakov, Managing Director for Depository Operations, NSD.
“Every year, the number of Moscow Exchange shareholders increases; it now exceeds 40 thousand. For a company which strives to be a leader and a good corporate governance example, it is important to provide shareholders with an option to exercise their rights remotely. This is a positive consequence of the general trend of service digitalization. This is not the first time we have used the E-voting system, and we are happy to see that more and more shareholders are using it to vote. I hope that in future the number of shareholders and the system’s users will continue to grow,” said Alexander Kamensky, Director of the Corporate Governance Department, Moscow Exchange.
“The E-voting service continues to involve different categories of investors into the company’s life, including those shareholders who own a relatively small number of shares. In addition to e-voting, the service allows shareholders to view AGM materials, send questions to the Moscow Exchange and the internal audit commission and receive their responses, sign up for notifications about new meetings, and be aware of any corporate news,” added Konstantin Lysenko, Head of depository services development, NSD.