The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday approved an application by some individual and institutional shareholders of Tatung Co (大同) to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to elect a new board of directors, a month after the ministry deemed Tatung’s June 30 shareholders’ meeting invalid and rejected registering the board directors elected at that meeting.
“We have determined that Tatung chairwoman Lin Kuo Wen-yen (林郭文艷) contravened the law, as she abused her role as the head of the board and gravely infringed on the rights of shareholders,” Department of Commerce Director-General May Lee (李鎂) told a news conference in Taipei.
Under Lin Kuo’s instructions, Tatung blocked several shareholders, who collectively hold a 53 percent stake in the company, from voting at the June 30 annual general meeting on accusations that they received funding from Chinese investors.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
Lee criticized Lin Kuo for abusing her power, saying it is not up to a company to decide whether shareholders have contravened the law, but the authorities.
Lin Kuo has contravened articles 179 and 198 of the Company Act (公司法), both of which relating to the voting rights of shareholders, while the Financial Supervisory Commission on July 14 also found Tatung to have contravened Article 39 of the Securities and Exchanges Act (證券交易法), Lee said.
As the existing board is not legally capable of calling a shareholders’ meeting, the ministry said it therefore approved the petition by some rebel shareholders to hold an extraordinary meeting by the end of November to elect a new board, she said.
Some of the rebel shareholders in a joint statement thanked the authorities for approving their petition and vowed to hold a fair and open meeting soon.
“All shareholders’ rights will be equally respected. One share, one vote,” the petition said.
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