U.K. Businesses to Hold Remote Shareholder Meetings in Lockdown

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K. is bringing forward emergency legislation to enable companies to hold their shareholder meetings remotely after it extended the country’s lockdown by three weeks.

Annual general meetings, at which shareholders gather to direct questions to board executives, will be allowed to be held over the phone under new laws, Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced on Friday.

The U.K. parliament returns from its break on Tuesday, where it will begin scrutinizing and passing emergency laws that the government has proposed to help cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the U.K. said it would extend its national lockdown to at least May 7.

“We are working on the detail, but we envisage providing companies with the ability to hold “closed” meetings with a minimum number of people by way of telephone or other equivalent means of communication,” the Financial Reporting Council said in a statement.

It advised against holding large virtual meetings with full freedom for shareholders to participate over concerns about the limited number of service providers and the use of untested technology. Instead, shareholders will be able to vote by proxy.

Companies should engage with stakeholders and respond to questions sent in electronically. Shareholder days should be held later in the year, it advised.

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