Illegal Purchase of Proxies Can Be Reported to TDCC
2021/05/10
From every May to June, the peak season of shareholder meetings, there are often proxy solicitors and agencies soliciting proxies from shareholders by means of public announcement, advertisement, phone, and personal visit. Through attending a shareholder meeting, a solicitor can exercise the rights in each motion on behalf of a shareholder.
As a solicitor acquires a proxy from a shareholder, only the souvenir of the shareholder meeting to which the proxy belongs can be given to the shareholder. Money and other forms of interests are forbidden to be offered to the shareholder because the funds provided equals the purchase of proxies, which violates the law. Purchase of proxies has always been the primary focus of TDCC’s proxy verification; for example, TDCC will investigate whether the distributors responsible for collection offer shareholders any money when collecting their proxies.
Should investors find illegal acts of purchasing proxies in cash or with other interests, they can report to TDCC with concrete evidence, such as the distributor that takes the proxy or the person who offers shareholder money. The report hotline is 02-25473733. When the report is verified, and the competent authority finalizes the penalty, the report reward reaches up to NT$ 100,000.
TDCC appeals to shareholders to first refer to a solicitor’s documents and promotional materials before delivering proxies. Hence, they can understand the solicitor’s opinions on each motion and judge if the solicitor will positively affect the corporation’s future operation. Currently, as for the exercise of shareholders’ voting rights at shareholder meetings, in addition to the proxies for attendance, shareholders can adopt e-voting to carry out shareholder activism and protect shareholders’ interests and rights.
