During the peak shareholder meeting season of May to June, some proxy solicitors or proxy solicitation firms will try to get in touch with shareholders through announcements, advertisements, phone calls, or visits. The solicitation activities aim to help shareholders attend the annual meetings by appointing proxies with a Power of Attorney (POA). Then the solicitors can exercise shareholders’ right to vote for or against motions at the meetings on behalf of the stated shareholders.

According to recent press coverage, rumor has it that POA dealers are talking about the market unit price of some corporation’s POA for their general meeting. Chen Tzu-Ting, Senior Vice President of TDCC’s Intermediaries Compliance & Inspection Department of , pointed out that the only thing a solicitor or a solicitation firm can hand over to their clients is the meeting souvenir gift of that year. If solicitors or solicitation firms provide money or other interests to shareholders in exchange for their POAs, then the act is deemed an unlawful purchase of a POA. TDCC has seen POA purchases as one of the top areas of POA solicitation reviews for years. This year, TDCC has organized training courses for POA dealers’ solicitors and reiterated relevant regulations. The dealers’ solicitation sites across the country will have to go through a stricter POA scrutinization process. Once the evidence of illegal acts is confirmed, the case will be reported to the competent authority and violators will be fined according to the Securities and Exchange Act.

Manager Chen stated that if investors are aware of any illegal behaviors like obtaining a POA by giving money or other interests to a shareholder, they can report to TDCC with concrete evidence such as solid information showing which dealer or securities firm took the POA in question, or which person offered money or other interests to a shareholder to purchase their POA. Reporting Hotline (+886-2-2547-3733) and Reporting Email (tdcc@tdcc.com.tw) are open to all investors. Once a reported case is investigated and verified, the investor making the report will receive an informant award no more than NT$100,000 after the competency authority finalizes the penalty.