As the infection of the new coronavirus spreads rapidly, a venture company in Tokyo held a general meeting of shareholders online without setting up a venue.
The full-online general meeting of shareholders can be held with this revision of the law, and it is the first time in Japan that it will actually be held.
The online-only general meeting of shareholders was held by the Tokyo venture company Euglena. On the 26th, the president and other management gathered in a room in an office in Tokyo, and the general meeting began at 9:30 am.
At the ordinary general meeting of shareholders, a venue is set up to gather shareholders to ask questions and vote on agenda items, but at the general meeting on the 26th, communication equipment was temporarily installed in the office and it was held in a completely online format.
Approximately 550 shareholders attended the meeting online, and the president answered questions from shareholders entered on the special website through a camera.
The bill was also voted online, and the general meeting ended in just over an hour without any trouble such as communication problems.
A completely online general meeting of shareholders can be held with the enactment of the revised Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Law in June, and this company also decided to hold it because it will prevent the spread of infection of the new corona. about it.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, this is the first general meeting in Japan to be held, but there are a number of companies preparing for the meeting, and there is a possibility that it will spread as a new general meeting of shareholders in the future. I have.
President "I'm glad I was able to get distant shareholders to participate."
Euglena President Mitsuru Izumo said, "I was really nervous because it was the first time for a completely online general meeting in Japan, but I am relieved that it ended safely. I was talking.
On the one hand, there are challenges
A completely online general meeting of shareholders can now be held with the enactment of the revised Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act in June.
Benefits include reducing the risk of the spread of the new coronavirus infection because shareholders do not gather at one venue, and making it easier for shareholders who had difficulty attending due to living far away to participate. It is listed.
In addition, the general meeting of shareholders is a valuable place for shareholders to ask questions directly to management, but online has lowered the psychological hurdles when asking questions, increased the number of people asking questions, and activated dialogue between management and shareholders. There is also a view that it will be done.
On the other hand, issues have also been pointed out.
Online holding is expected to increase the number of questions received in advance, and there is a concern that questions that are inconvenient for the company will be intentionally excluded.
For this reason, it has been pointed out that it is necessary to properly reflect the opinions of shareholders, such as answering questions that were not taken up during the general meeting on the company's website.
It is also necessary to record audio in case of a risk of communication failure so that shareholders can check the content later.
Hiroshi Ota, a lawyer at Nishimura & Asahi Law Office, who is familiar with corporate legal affairs, said, "It is expected that the online-only general meeting will be an opportunity to encourage the company to disclose more information and deepen dialogue with shareholders. However, we should consider whether it is appropriate not to hold a real general meeting when there is an important management problem. The company is required to have a sincere attitude toward shareholders and to improve the system. " increase.