Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation

Annual general meetings of 1,700 listed companies are taking place between this April and June, while COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) has been spreading rapidly. According to last year’s statistics, only 10 shareholder meetings with over 200 attendees, which occupied less than 1% of the total, so there is no need to panic. If any shareholders still worry about the pandemic and appear less willing to attend shareholder meetings, they can exercise their voting rights through TDCC’s e-Voting service. Meanwhile, Financial Supervisory Commission also encourages investors to replace shareholder meeting attendance with e-Voting, for these two voting approaches exert equal effects according to sources of law. Through e-Voting, not only will the time cost decrease but investors can also contribute to disease prevention in Taiwan by avoiding mass gathering.

How do investors conduct e-Voting? The e-Voting platform “STOCKVOTE” can be accessed not only through computers but also through TDCC’s e-PASSBOOK App or Securities firms Order APP. The voting function has been fully integrated into investors’ passbook and order APPs. Therefore, voting is not restricted to any time or place as long as investors have mobile phones in their hands.

Financial Supervisory Commission has regulated that e-Voting be mandatory in listed companies but optional for emerging stock companies. Details such as the list of companies adopting e-Voting and the time to vote are available through STOCKVOTE website, shareholder meeting notice, and Market Observation Post System. In addition, issuers that haven’t used e-Voting yet are advised to take it as one of the channels for voting, which not only provides shareholders with a more efficient voting alternative but also enhances both sides’ responsibility of disease prevention. E-Voting can definitely serve as the best solution for fighting against the pandemic spread.