Publicly traded companies might be allowed to delay their annual shareholders’ meetings until after next month given a surge in COVID-19 infections in Taiwan, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) said yesterday.
The commission would speak with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to reach a decision within two weeks, Huang told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei.
The Securities and Exchange Act (證交法) requires listed companies to hold their annual general meetings by the end of June or face a fine of NT$240,000 to NT$4.8 million (US$8,577 to US$171,539).
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The commission would look to the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興條例) and study whether listed firms could be exempted from the requirements of, Huang said.
“The advantage [of delaying meetings] would be to reduce public gatherings and help contain the spread of COVID-19, but delaying them would affect stock-related affairs, such as dividend distributions,” he said.
Listed companies are required to announce their book closure dates at least 60 days before their shareholder meetings so they can finalize their shareholder rosters.
Only shareholders on the roster are eligible to attend the meetings.
If companies are permitted to delay the meetings to later than next month, they might need to reschedule the book-closure dates, which would also affect shareholders’ interests, Huang said.
The commission would weigh the pros and cons, he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) told the committee meeting that many nations and other administrations have allowed firms to postpone shareholders’ meetings amid the pandemic, including China, Dubai, France, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, the US and Vietnam.
The commission is also mulling whether companies should be allowed to hold shareholder meetings via videoconferencing, but there are some technical issues.
Companies would find it difficult to authenticate shareholders’ identities online and count their real-time votes, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said on Tuesday.
Another problem is whether videoconferencing software allows sufficient overlapping log ins, Tsai said.
Moreover, if a videoconference breaks up or there is a bad connection, it would compromise shareholders’ rights, she said, adding that it is foreseeable that “controversies would occur.”
In related news, the commission said that the nation’s financial services would remain normal even if the COVID-19 alert is raised to level 4, while banks are encouraged to lower handling fees, as people would use online banking services and ATMs more instead of going to branches.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS