From May to June each year, annual general meetings, which draw a lot of market attention, are held one after another. Both domestic and international investors intend to express support for and opinions on corporate performance at shareholder meetings. However, Covid-19 has been raging around the world; while the spread of the pandemic is relatively under control domestically, investors who plan to attend shareholder meetings can’t help but feel apprehensive about indoor gatherings. The Financial Supervisory Commission has been encouraging that investors replace physical attendance with E-voting; according to statistics from TDCC, from April, at most shareholder meetings, the number of shareholders attending in person is only about 20, demonstrating a growing awareness of disease prevention among citizens.

As Chu Han-Chiang, TDCC President points out, from the statistics of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation, the percentage of foreign investors holding Taiwanese stocks has exceeded 40%. Following the guideline of “internationalization,” TDCC continues to expand shareholder meeting services for foreign investors. Since 2014, the company has been collaborating with the first and second most dominant international E-voting organizations, Broadridge (BR) and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), providing foreign investors with Straight Through Process Service (STP). In 2019, the percentage of foreign investors exercising E-voting rights through STP reached a massive 92%, showing STP Service has effectively facilitated the voting process and made it highly convenient and efficient for foreign investors.

While the above mentioned STP Service and proxy voting through custodian banks allow a majority of foreign investors to conduct E-voting, a small number of foreign nationals or corporate shareholders cannot be identified due to the lack of proxy voting conducted by commissioned custodian institutes, citizen digital certificate, or online order placement certificate. Previously, they could only turn to proxy attendance or physical attendance to exercise voting rights; as the pandemic spreads, from April 2020, TDCC has offered an alternative that foreign shareholders without certificates can apply to issuers for a CN code as the identification to log in. Bedsides, an English voting webpage has been offered, allowing foreign investors to attend shareholder meetings effortlessly through E-voting no matter where they are in the world. This can not only protect shareholder’s rights but also contribute to the effort for disease prevention.

According to Julie Wang, TDCC Senior Vice President, the bilingual interface of the E-voting platform, constructed in both English and Chinese, offers domestic and international shareholders an efficient channel for exercising their rights; besides, it shows Taiwan capital market’s objectives of linking up with the world and pursuing corporate governance. The CN code service for foreign investors’ E-voting has attracted applications from major international shareholders of 37 TWSE-listed companies, TPEX-listed companies, and emerging stock companies since the inception in April. Especially to major shareholders of companies registering for listing at TWSE and TPEX, the attendance through E-voting can eliminate risks of infection due to overseas traveling and can help express their own opinions on motions at shareholder meetings. Indeed, E-voting is the one stroke that serves many purposes.

TDCC Stockvote