Bursa Malaysia holds fully virtual AGM, creates history

Bursa Malaysia Bhd has made history in the Malaysian corporate world by being the first company in the country to hold a fully virtual annual general meeting (AGM).

The exchange operator held its 43rd AGM online yesterday as a safety measure to protect the health and safety of its shareholders due to the unprecedented conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and following the government’s movement control order (MCO).

Shareholders participated and voted remotely using the available remote participation and voting (RPV) facilities.

The virtual meeting was broadcasted from the conference room of Bursa Malaysia’s building in Bukit Kewangan.

This was in line with the Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) call that companies should conduct fully virtual general meetings during the MCO period.

On April 18, the regulator issued a guidance note on the conduct of general meetings for listed issuers, stating that there should not be more than eight essential individuals physically present at the broadcast venue.

This includes the chairperson of the general meeting, the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, the company secretary, the auditor and those providing audio-visual support.

“This guidance note is necessary to ensure companies can continue to meet their obligations under the law and to shareholders during this MCO period.

“We also encourage companies to continue leveraging on technology even beyond the MCO period, to conduct meetings in a manner that will encourage and enable full shareholder participation, even from remote locations,” said SC chairperson Syed Zaid Albar in a statement.

Bursa Malaysia had previously created history by being the first company in Malaysia to organise a hybrid AGM, which was its 42nd AGM, where shareholders had the option to attend the AGM physically or via remote participation.

- Bernama