Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation

To improve corporate governance, the competent authority strongly promotes full e-voting in shareholders’ meetings of TWSE-listed and TPEx-listed companies in 2018. In addition, 63 emerging companies voluntarily use e-voting. There are 1,734 TWSE-listed, TPEx-listed, and emerging companies choose e-voting this year, marking a time of revolutionary change in shareholders’ meetings. In fact, e-voting plays an important role in whether a motion will pass in meetings. It may also be a deciding factor when it comes to management rights. In 2017, 1,217 TWSE-listed, TPEx-listed, and emerging companies adopted e-voting. Their e-voting attendance rate was 49.4%. Among them, up to 302 enjoyed over 50% e-voting attendance rate. The voting results have already been decided before the actual shareholders’ meetings.

Moreover, e-voting is changing the procedure of shareholders’ meetings. In the past, attendees applauded to pass motions in shareholders’ meetings in Taiwan. It lacked actual voting procedures which could faithfully demonstrate shareholders’ views on motions. This has always been a problem pointed out by the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA). Since Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC) launched Stockvote, an e-voting platform, 100% voting by poll was achieved in shareholders’ meetings every year. Taiwan’s corporate governance is improved because voting process becomes more transparent. In addition, e-voting is helpful for nomination systems for candidates of directors and supervisors. Take last year, 71% e-voting companies used nomination systems, which was much higher than non e-voting companies’ 33%. E-voting drives nomination systems and voting by poll, and significantly improves corporate governance.

Since 2012, the competent authority has carried out mandatory e-voting policies on companies with over NT$10 billion capital. Foreign institutional investors are great supporters of using e-voting to exercise their voting rights. Besides, TDCC greatly encourages domestic institutional investors to use e-voting. The e-voting rate is near 100% in the Four Great Funds. The e-voting rate is over 80% in domestic investment trusts and dealers. Compared to individual shareholders, institutional shareholders are in favor of e-voting with near 80% of e-voting shares. This year, TDCC actively introduces e-voting to the banking sector and the insurance sector. Institutional investors are signing stewardship code under the government’s policy which strengthens the power of supervision of institutional investors in hopes of fulfilling active ownership by shareholders. To help signatories reveal voting results of shareholders meetings, TDCC added “stewardship voting statistics section” in Stockvote. The new function was launched on September 20 2017, largely reducing the human resources, time, and development cost, and further improving corporate governance.

Stockvote follows the Corporate Governance Blueprint by the competent authority to fulfill active ownership by shareholders and promote e-voting attendance rate of individual investors and institutional investors in shareholders’ meetings. Users are thus more involved with the securities market and corporate governance, which will enhance corporate governance in Taiwan.