Companies move shareholder meetings online amid shutdown

In a first for Bangladesh, listed companies are using virtual platforms to hold annual general meetings as part of their business continuity plans while avoiding mass gatherings and maintain social distancing in the face of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The move to virtual platforms comes after the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on March 24 temporarily relaxed rules on holding AGM or extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and board meetings on digital platforms to contain the spread of the deadly bug.

The companies whose record dates were after March 25 will be able to hold their AGM online, said a top official of the commission. The record date is the cut-off date established by a company to determine which shareholders are eligible for a dividend.

GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh was the first to conduct the virtual AGM on April 16, and five days later, Grameenphone, the top-listed company, followed suit. British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATBC) will do the same today and Singer Bangladesh on May 15.

The commission issued the guideline following a proposal from BATBC, said Md Azizur Rahman, company secretary of the firm.

This will ultimately be helpful to the shareholders as they will get 400 per cent cash dividend after the meeting, he said.

"To us, the most important thing is that if the AGM can be held, shareholders will get some money. This will be helpful for them amid the lockdown and will also be helpful to the economy," Rahman told The Daily Star.

BATBC has about 19,000 shareholders and the company has shared the password with them to allow them to log on the AGM platform the company's own IT team has developed.

"This is the real digitalisation as people don't need to move to participate in any programme like AGM."

The process is also easy to communicate with the shareholders, who will get an annual report through a link as part of a move that will cut paper use.

At the same time, unwanted incidents can be avoided, Rahman added.

BATBC has incorporated the voting system and the shareholders will get the opportunity to share opinions and make recommendations. Some of the directors of the company are now out of the country and they will take part in the AGM virtually.

The same happened at the AGM of Grameenphone. Some of the board members attended the meeting from Thailand and Norway. Among them were Grameenphone Chairman Petter B Furberg and Chief Executive Officer Yasir Azman.

Grameenphone moved this year's AGM to the digital platform in compliance with the directives of the BSEC and considering the health and safety of all the shareholders, staff and others, the operator said. 

Grameenphone has designed and developed the digital platform to run the 23rd AGM of the company online to provide continuous and meaningful shareholder engagement and participation, it said in a press release.

At the AGM, shareholders approved a 40 per cent cash dividend. Grameenphone has 32,000 shareholders and all of them got the password to attend the meeting and a good number of them attended.

GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh organised the event at Radisson Blu Chattogram Bay View hotel where shareholders approved a 530 per cent cash dividend for the year that ended on December 31, 2019.

Singer's AGM will be held online from Spectra Convention Centre and the board has recommended a 77 per cent cash dividend for last year.