Rights of Shareholders
The Group values and prioritizes basic shareholders' rights, both as an investor and an owner of the Company, to buy-sell-transfer Company securities, receive dividends, access sufficient information,
attend shareholders' meetings, as well as the right to vote and decide critical resolutions that significantly affect the Group's business and direction. As Company owners, they are also looked upon to decide the appointments of key Company personnel, be it Company directors or auditors, and crucial matters and transactions, be it the allocation of dividends, capital reduction-increase, or approval of special items, all the way to setting-amending key documents, be it the Memorandum of Association or the Articles of Association, among other impactful decisions.
The Group thus has a mission to promote and facilitate the exercise of shareholders' rights as follows:
Basic shareholder rights to:
- Buying, selling, and transferring shares, and receiving their fair share of profit.
- Receiving sufficient information promptly in a format suitable for decision-making processes that affect the Company as well as themself.
- Attending and voting at the shareholders' meeting to decide significant changes under Company Compliance Policy (CCoP).
- Receiving support and encouragement to promote meeting attendance.
- Exercising other rights as they are legally entitled to.
Apply Record Date criteria in shareholders' meetings to allow attendees sufficient time to consider meeting invitation documents and related information beforehand.
Enclose clear and concise meeting-related information, namely date-time and location, itemized agenda explanations and supporting reasons, Board of Directors itemized per-agenda opinion, the requested resolutions per meeting invitation letter or meeting agenda attachments, along with an Annual Report enclosed with the rest. Access to information is supported by prohibiting any action that limits the opportunity of shareholders to study Company information and sending the meeting notice to shareholders and the registrar at least 14 days before the meeting date, publishing the meeting notice in a newspaper for a period of 3 days, and disseminating the information on the Company's website at least 30 days before the meeting unless reasonable or necessary otherwise, whereby the Company is obliged to unceasing CCoP, including relevant legal provisions and requirements, with the utmost effort in providing shareholders with the information before the meeting date or as soon as possible.
Facilitate all groups of shareholders to properly and fully exercise their rights to attend and vote in shareholders' meetings and avoid any limitation or discouragement of attendance, by organizing meeting locations that are convenient and easy to travel to and attaching a map showing the meeting venue in the invitation letter, as well as choosing an appropriate date-time and allocating sufficient time for meetings and attendees to discuss and vote with straightforward and economical voting methods.
Allow shareholders to submit comments, suggestions, or questions in advance of the meeting date, whereby the criteria for advance submission are clearly defined and enclosed in the shareholders' meeting invitation letter and published on the Company's website.
Encourage shareholders to vote by proxy with the proxy form enclosed in the shareholders' meeting invitation letter along with details of documents and evidence required for appointing a proxy. The Company nominates at least 1 independent director as an alternative to the proxy.
Pre-meeting voting tutes and instructions are provided before commencing the meeting, covering how to count votes for each agenda or request shareholder representatives to witness the vote counting.
At Group shareholders' meetings, the meeting Chairperson is to allocate appropriate time to allow shareholders plenty of opportunities to freely express their opinions, suggestions, or questions related to any agenda before voting.
Encourage directors and executives with agenda-related expertise and experience to attend the shareholders' meeting to answer questions from shareholders.
Arrange itemized resolutions for agendas with multiple items, such as director appointment agendas with several nominees.
Support the use of voting ballots for transparency and accountability in vote counting and results.
Arrange for an independent person to assist with meeting undertakings for transparency, such as the vote-counting process and disclosing agenda results, as well as meeting minutes recording.
Promote appropriate technological applications in shareholders' meetings, namely in the vote-counting registration and display process to conduct the meeting swiftly, transparently, and accurately.
Prepare the meeting minutes after each meeting is completed with accurate and complete information on important matters, including all relevant concerns, questions, opinions, and suggestions, as well as proper documentation for shareholders' future reference. The voting results for each agenda, along with the meeting minutes, are also posted on the Company's website and SET prescribed channels for shareholders' reference.
A copy of the shareholders' meeting minutes is submitted with SET within 14 days after the shareholders' meeting date.