“Prepare for Next Year’s Mandatory Electronic General Meetings,” Shin & Kim Launches Task Force

[Financial News] Shin & Kim is stepping up integrated advisory services for listed companies through its Electronic General Meeting of Shareholders Task Force in preparation for mandatory electronic general meetings of shareholders next year.
Shin & Kim said on the 14th that it would support companies throughout their preparations, as listed companies with total assets of at least 2 trillion won will be required to hold in-person and electronic general meetings of shareholders concurrently starting January 1 next year.
Once the electronic general meeting of shareholders system takes effect, covered companies will need to address numerous legal and practical matters in advance. These include selecting a management institution and signing an outsourcing agreement, establishing internal operating standards, issuing meeting notices, verifying shareholders’ identities and handling proxy attendance, setting standards for questions and remarks by shareholders attending electronically, responding to communications failures, and protecting personal information.
Because extraordinary general meetings of shareholders held after January 1 next year may also be subject to the rules, Shin & Kim explained that companies need to complete substantial preparations this year, including reviewing their articles of incorporation and establishing internal operating standards.
Shin & Kim’s Electronic General Meeting of Shareholders Task Force has reviewed related legal and operational issues since immediately after the revised Commercial Act introducing electronic general meetings of shareholders was promulgated last July. The task force will also draw on the experience accumulated by the Corporate Governance Strategy Center and the Corporate Governance Research Institute in advising on general meeting and board operations and management-control disputes.
After assessing each company’s articles of incorporation, shareholder composition, existing electronic voting operations, and potential for disputes, the task force will provide step-by-step advice—from preparation for an electronic general meeting of shareholders and the conduct of proceedings on the meeting day to post-meeting dispute response.
The task force is led by Managing Partner Lee Dong-geon and includes attorneys Lee Suk-mi, Oh Sae-ron, Choi Myung, Baek Seung-woo, and Ahn Jung-ho. Ahn Hyo-seop, head of the Corporate Governance Research Institute, has also joined the team after handling investor relations and shareholder affairs at Samsung Group and Hyundai Group.
On the 29th, Shin & Kim will also hold a seminar titled “A to Z for Preparing a Successful Electronic General Meeting of Shareholders” with IRKUDOS, a management institution for electronic general meetings of shareholders. The seminar will be held in a hybrid online and in-person format and will cover practical procedures, including selecting a management institution and signing an outsourcing agreement, establishing internal operating standards, issuing notices and public announcements, operating the meeting on the day, and maintaining post-meeting records and disclosures.
The seminar will also demonstrate through system screens situations that may arise during an actual meeting, including identity verification for shareholders attending electronically, proxy attendance, receiving and screening questions and remarks, exercising and counting voting rights, cumulative voting, and responding to communications failures.
Managing Partner Lee said, “An electronic general meeting of shareholders is more than simply broadcasting an existing shareholders’ meeting online. It must protect the rights of shareholders attending electronically while also ensuring the legality of the proceedings and resolutions and fairness toward shareholders attending in person. Based on our experience with shareholders’ meetings and management-control disputes, related research, and collaboration with specialized institutions, we will provide solutions tailored to each company’s circumstances.”
Shin & Kim’s Electronic General Meeting of Shareholders Task Force has researched related legal and practical issues even before the system takes effect. Last September, for example, it published “Legal Issues and Operational Challenges of Electronic General Meetings of Shareholders under the Revised Commercial Act” in Issue 133 of BFL, published by the Seoul National University Financial Law Center.
[email protected] Yoo Sun-jun Reporter